Creative Leadership : Buzz

The Salty Tart in Minneapolis recently made a list of the top 10 bakeries around the globe from Departures magazine.

“Though it is a risky move to arrive in a new city and set up shop immediately, it paid off for pastry chef Michelle Gayer,” the story reads.

After working on Los Angeles and Chicago, the baker opened the Salty Tart in 2008 in the Midtown Global Market.

With everything from coconut macaroons to pastry cream-filled brioche to various kinds of seasonal tarts, “The bakery was an instant hit,” the article states.

For the second year in a row, Ecolab Inc. in St. Paul and General Mills Inc. in Golden Valley made Forbes magazine’s list of 100 of "The World's Most Innovative Companies."

Ecolab came in 31st, while General Mills was number 50.

The leading companies were Salesforce.com, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Amazon.com, according to Forbes.

To get its results, the magazine used the “Innovation Premium,” which measures “how much investors have bid up the stock price of a company above the value of its existing business based on expectations of future innovative results,” the article states.

Furthermore, companies on the list “must have $10 billion in market capitalization, spend at least 2.5% of revenue on R&D and have seven years of public data,” it reads.

The Minneapolis-based Game Informer magazine is the country’s third-highest-circulation periodical, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports.  

While so many other print publications have reported declining sales in recent years, “Game Informer's circulation grew more than any U.S. publication in the past year,” surpassing Better Homes and Gardens in growth, and trailing only two AARP publications in total circulation, according to the Business Journal, which cites Bloomberg Businessweek data.

In terms of circulation growth, he second-place national magazine is Family Circle.

Part of the magazine’s success has to do with its connection to the Texas-based GameStop company, the article states.

Recently, The Atlantic magazine recounted in print how Medtronic came to be the major company it is now, after beginning in a garage in Northeast Minneapolis, Fridley Patch reports.

The Atlantic writer, Monica Smith, visited local landmarks while gathering information on the Fridley-headquartered international company.

“Her research was part of a Smithsonian Institution exhibit called Places of Invention that's now in development. It focuses on seven areas of the United States, including Minnesota's 'medical alley,'” the  Patch story reads.

The story republishes this excerpt from the magazine story, below.

One of my favorite stories is about how young Earl [Bakken, Medtronic founder] ... was inspired to become an electrical engineer after seeing Boris Karloff's 1931 "Frankenstein" at the Heights Theatre on Central Avenue near his childhood home in Minneapolis. So in the pouring rain David [Rhees, executive director of The Bakken Museum] drove me by Earl's house and then on to the now-renovated theatre to take photos. He told me about how fun it was to help Earl celebrate his 85th birthday with a special screening of the 1931 movie there. Our next stop was at Medtronic's world headquarters where Earl still maintains an office even though he is nominally retired and lives in Hawaii. I got a kick out of seeing two Frankenstein figures on his desk.

In a recent piece, Midwest Living features Minneapolis as an ideal destination town for a two-day getaway.
 
“No matter what your mood, Minneapolis offers something to suit: beautiful lakes nestled among hip art communities, tree-lined trails behind modern museums, vibrant nightlife blocks from high-class cultural attractions,” the story reads.
 
For starters, the extensive art collections housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts make the museum worth a trip. “The Department of Contemporary Art shows works by living artists, and the institute’s collection of paintings spans more than five centuries,” it states.  
 
Also, Nicollet Mall’s pedestrian-level shops, restaurants, and farmers market, and scenic Lake Calhoun are just some of the city’s many attractions, the article adds.  
 

 

 

PedalMn.com has a short video that shows off the state’s extensive bike trails.  

It goes through a number of bike paths both in urban areas and in greater Minnesota. In Minneapolis, bicyclists are followed as they careen past the scenic Chain of Lakes, the St. Anthony Main historic area, and Nicollet Mall.  

Bike-friendly infrastructure, such as bike racks on buses, helps flesh out some of the reasons why the state has gotten so many props lately in this area.

The video will “will remind you why you love to get out and pedal in Minnesota,” the website states.  

Business publication Fast Company recently featured an article about how cities can foster a thriving creative class, and highlighted local nonprofit real estate developer Artspace as an ideal example.
 
The organization's flagship project, the Northern Warehouse in the Lowertown district of St. Paul, has been housing artists for more than 20 years, in a neighborhood that's undergone vast transformation.
 
This is significant, the article's writer believes: "Today, as widespread civic enthusiasm for 'creative' projects has begun to spawn skepticism, the Northern Warehouse may be one of the clearest case studies of the role of artists in rejuvenating decayed neighborhoods--and sticking around afterward."
 
Artspace doesn't prove that artists can power the economy of whole cities, the article notes, but it does seem to be providing an effective model for other urban centers that want to maintain a stable, thriving artistic culture.

Marketing firm Haberman made the list of best places to work in the country, as determined by Outside magazine. The publication singled out companies that "allow people to pursue ambitious careers but also spend time with their families, give back to their communities, and fulfill their passion for adventure."
 
Minneapolis-based Haberman was singled out for its location in the Warehouse District, as well as its distinctive employer-sponsored garden. The article noted that Haberman employees also benefit from a "wellness inferno" competition, where teams can earn weekly prizes for completing various wellness tasks like hosting a walking meeting along the Mississippi riverfront. Also noted were flexible hours and a company-endorsed "fun committee."
 
Outside's list of 100 best places to work includes companies of all sizes, and others that garnered the title include well-known enterprises like Patagonia, SmartWool, Trek Bicycle Corporation, and New Belgium Brewing.
 

Minneapolis and St. Paul made Sherman's Travel’s recent list of the country’s top 10 places for bicycling.

“The Twin Cities emergence as a bike-friendly superstar coincided with a general plan to make the area more livable,” the story states.

The story points to the Nice Ride bike-sharing program, and to bike-themed events that happen frequently here.

Just last year, the city of Minneapolis added 37 miles of bikeways, installed hundreds of bike-specific street signs, and created a citywide bike map for the first time, the story states.

Bill Dossett, who heads Nice Ride, is quoted saying,  “All of these things are happening at the same time that we’ve made this great investment in the last five years,” adding, “You bring all of that together and I think our future is very bright.”
 

The Anchor Fish & Chips restaurant in Minneapolis is featured in a Yahoo! Travel piece about the best seafood spots in the country.
 
“Crisp Alaskan cod and hand-cut fries steal the show at this traditional Irish chipper,” the piece reads. “Request a side of tangy curry sauce to layer on your fries and you're sure to tantalize your taste buds.”
 
The Anchor’s seafood isn’t the only thing drawing people to the small hole-in-the-wall pub, the piece points out. It also has a solid beer selection, well-executed Shepherd’s Pie, and a trendy ambience.  
 
For those on the go, the restaurant’s food truck is a good option, adds Yahoo!
 

The Bachelor Farmer restaurant in Minneapolis was recently featured in the New York Times.

The modern, chic restaurant “playfully blends Scandinavian design and tradition with a handmade-food ethos and the friendly unpretentiousness of the Midwest,” the story reads.

With its unique offerings, such as roasted rutabagas and reinterpreted cinnamon rolls, the place “has given Scandinavian food a much-needed shot of adrenaline.”

Although the state hasn’t always garnered a lot of attention for its food ideas, “this Scandinavian surge is intersecting with the most avant-garde movement in food today: New Nordic cuisine,” it states.

Eric Dayton, who co-owns the restaurant, told the newspaper that the restaurant fell into the trend. “Our goal was something that was authentic to Minnesota, not necessarily authentic to Scandinavia.”

In a recent piece from Fox News, Minneapolis is recognized as a top “revival city.”

Fox explored a handful of cities that might seem under the radar or “once balanced on the economic precipice only to sustain as a stronghold for independent artists, forward-thinking entrepreneurs and corporate backers"--and looked at "how they're being transformed into unique vacation destinations,” the story states.

Minneapolis leads the nation in bicycling; it has award-winning restaurants and music venues and striking hotels, and plenty of art, the story states.

It mentions a laundry list of area destinations, including a 44-mile network of bike paths, the hard-to-get-into Marvel Bar, Eat Street Social, the Art Deco-style W Minneapolis, ArtCrank bike-inspired art and more.

The Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis has been re-imagined as a “hotel for locavores,” according to a recent New York Times story.

Part of the hotel’s recent $25 million renovation used area manufacturers, artisans, and artists. Its new décor “pays tribute to the city’s heritage and industry,” it states.

While the hotel is internationally known, architect Mike Suomi of Stonehill & Taylor says in the story, “We also wanted to craft a narrative that is specific to the location.”

Design touches reference timber and woolen mills while an oversized map of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers is tied together with Post-Its, which the city is also known for.

Bon Appetit magazine recently pulled together a list of the top five soda fountains around the country.

“A band of bartender converts are stepping up to the seltzer tap, returning us to the era of phosphates and egg creams,” the story states. Eat Street Social in Minneapolis made the list.  

“Sodas go toe-to-toe with craft cocktails at this lively bar,” it reads, adding that the Raspberry Rickey is a must-order.

BrightScope, an investment research firm, released its second annual list of the Minneapolis-area-based companies that boast the highest-ranked 401k plans.
 
Twenty five companies were highlighted, including newcomers to the list like M.A. Mortenson Company, The Valspar Corporation, and American Medical Systems.
 
The top three companies were Fish & Richardson, Briggs and Morgan, and Leonard Street and Deinard.
 
"It is apparent that the companies on this list have created high quality and effective 401k plans for their employees, making each of them a standard in which all other companies in the Minneapolis area should strive to imitate," noted Dan Weeks, BrightScope founder, in a press release about the results.