Creative Economy : Buzz

Downtown St. Paul’s Wells Fargo WinterSkate rink will serve as the backdrop for NBC's live coverage of “Hockey Day in America,” the Pioneer Press reports.

The broadcast features four National Hockey League games on Feb. 19, including the Minnesota Wild vs. the Boston Bruins at the Xcel Energy Center.

“With ice at many lakes too soft to skate on, and temperatures unseasonably pleasant, more than 20,000 skaters have headed to downtown St. Paul for free ice time,” the story states. 

The choice of the rink as a broadcast backdrop means that it will be open an extra two weeks this year. 

The Huffington Post recently featured a story by local writer Jay Walljasper titled, “How to Boost Biking and Walking in Your Town: Lessons From Minneapolis.”  

Walljasper cites numerous reports that show Minneapolis has become a top biking city.

He attributes it in part to various street improvements “including more bike lanes and special bicycle-and-pedestrian boulevards -- installed around town in the past year as part of the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Project.”

Joan Pasiuk, who heads Bike Walk Twin Cities, is quoted, saying, "The goal of this project from Congress was to shift some trips, and this data shows it is happening," adding, "The implications for overall health and transportation access are outcomes the community will realize from the numbers we're reporting."

Getting accurate bike and pedestrian counts is critical in terms of influencing transportation policies, according to Pasiuk.

Bleacher Report, which covers all kinds of sports news, has a list of “10 Reasons Minnesota Is a Very Underrated Baseball State,” accompanied with a slideshow.

“When you think of Minnesota you think snow, cold, Bob Dylan and Prince, but you really should be thinking about baseball,” it states.

Besides the team’s achievements, its home, Target Field, “is the best stadium in the league.”

The article also notes Minnesota's support of the minor-league St. Paul Saints.

The story and slideshow highlight local baseball greats who are known throughout the major leagues, historic events in Minnesota baseball, and the state's supportive fan base.

The web-based Education News, which covers various national and international education topics, recently highlighted the comic degree that’s available through the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.  

It’s one of only three such programs around the country, the story states, citing information from MPR and the Star Tribune.

Local author Britt Aamodt, who profiled over 20 area artists in a book called, “Superheroes, Strip Artists & Talking Animals: Minnesota’s Contemporary Cartoonists,” is quoted saying that a “recent crop of artists is taking Minnesota’s scene to new heights.”

Aamodt goes on to say that the local comic artists have "really spread their wings,” and, “They can tell any kind of story. And they just don’t have to be about men in tights.”

 

Restaurant guide Zagat released its annual list of the Twin Cities' best eateries, and many of last year's top restaurants earned high marks again.
 
La Belle Vie topped the list, with 112 Eatery coming in second. Also notable were Vincent, Restaurant Alma, Bar La Grassa, and Meritage, which all made last year's list as well.
 
Newcomers in the rankings were Heidi's, In Season, Masu Sushi, and Victory 44.
 
The annual, national Zagat guide blends the opinions and habits of more than 153,000 diners from around the country, and integrates those with over 1,500 reviews.

A recent article in the national magazine GOOD  features Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.

The story by local writer Jeff Severns Guntzel, is titled, “The Partisans Will Never Find Us Here: Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and the Art of Getting Shit Done.”

It talks about the city’s recent accolades for everything from biking to literacy.

“For a city that lives in the imaginations of Americans as a culturally isolated outpost of extreme and permanent cold, they are small but significant triumphs—and evidence that something is going right in Minneapolis,” Guntzel writes.

Civic achievements are reflected in “a buzzing park, a painter turning a street corner utility box into art, block after block of thriving independent businesses, a festival for every obsession and persuasion, [and] its growing, engaged immigrant communities. Minneapolis is all of these things. It is not a utopia, not by any stretch. It’s just a city that works,” he says.  

In many ways, the success can be credited to the efforts of the Mayor, who’s been in office for a decade, Guntzel says.

Auditions for a Hollywood movie with Tom Hanks as its star will be held in Minneapolis on Nov. 5, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

Hanks will portray Capt. Richard Phillips, “who was taken hostage by Somali pirates who hijacked his ship in 2009,” the MPR story states.

Sony Pictures, which is doing the casting, is looking for black actors, "preferably born in Africa ... Especially seeking SOMALIS," the story reads.

It’s what brings the company to the diverse Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, which has the highest population of Somali-Americans in the country, according to the story.

The auditions will happen at the Brian Coyle Center, a community gathering place.

The story quotes casting consultant Debbie DeLisi: “We just looked at where there's huge Somali populations," who adds, "It may be our only stop, depending on the turnout."

OpenTable, which takes online reservations to various eateries all over the country, gives props to four Twin Cities restaurants in its recent list of the "Top 50 Restaurants Most Fit for Foodies," the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports.

The list came together following OpenTable's “foodie” survey, which garnered more than 10 million reviews, the article states.  

The standout restaurants in Minneapolis and St. Paul include Haute Dish, Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market, Piccolo and Saffron Restaurant & Lounge.  

The piece quotes Caroline Potter, OpenTable’s Chief Dining Officer, saying, "These restaurants have been singled out for being able to satisfy the folks for whom dining is practically sport--those avid, passionate eaters, often armed with cameras, who take careful notes and relish every bite.”

In a recent review of Insiders’ Guide to Twin Cities by local author Jay Gabler, the librarian/blogger known as ricklibrarian talks about spending hours with the book before coming to the Twin Cities.

In previous visits to the area, “I only had a limited amount of time to see the sites and saw just enough to know I wanted to see more. So I enjoyed the well-organized and frequently updated Insiders’ Guide,” he states in the post.  

The book helped him to compile a list of must-see sites, including Minnehaha Falls, Open Book, the state capitol, Como Zoo, local art museums, and more.

He sums up by saying, “There is enough in the Twin Cities for several trips. Perhaps I should read Gabler's chapter on relocating to the great Midwestern metropolitan area. I'd love to go to Twins games regularly no matter where they are in the standings and have my picture taken on Kirby Puckett Lane. I hope the weather is fair.”

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently released a list of 100 businesses that have created at least 100 jobs since receiving SBA assistance, and three Minnesota companies were highlighted.
 
Great Clips, Shield Services, and Tastefully Simple--all based in Minnesota--made the list, showing growth since their SBA aid.
 
Great Clips received a $9 million SBA loan in 1997 and used the money to grow from 800 salons to over 3,000 franchised locations, creating 15,000 jobs along the way.
 
Security firm Shield Services benefited from the agency's business development program and an SBA-assisted contract, and now employs 130 people.
 
Tastefully Simple, a food-mix and gift purveyor launched in 1995, used a $20,000 SBA loan to grow into a $100 million company with 340 employees. 

Talk about a cage match: the Jolly Green Giant is up against Smokey Bear, the Energizer Bunny, and even Subway's Jared.
 
The Giant, a longtime brand rep for Golden Valley-based General Mills, is part of an online popularity contest held by New York's advertising agencies in anticipation of the event-packed Advertising Week 2011.
 
As noted by USA Today, the winner will be celebrated with a permanent banner on Madison Avenue, the ad industry's answer to Hollywood Boulevard.
 
People can vote via Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and the 20 ad icons range from Progressive's Flo to Mr. Clean to Sparky the Fire Dog.
 
Even the U.S. Department of Transportation's crash test dummies (named Vince and Larry, for you ad trivia buffs) are up for consideration.

A local food writer gets a shout-out in a Boston.com piece as a possible successor to the outgoing restaurant critic at the New York Times.

The Times’ food critic, Sam Shifton, is shifting into a new role at the newspaper, it explains.

“Still in the outsider vein,” Devra First writes, "Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, who writes for the Minnesota Monthly," is “a wicked writer, a New York native, well respected.”

In a position that’s long been male-dominated, it may be time for a new perspective. “Grumdahl's sensibility appeals to the younger readers the Times is looking to attract,” says First.

In a recent USA Today story about ways to make the most of produce before it goes bad, Minneapolis is named along with Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, for having thriving food swaps.

Food swaps, which are listed here, help avoid wasting food, the author explains. “Imagine a place where regular people get together to unload what they have too much of (summer squash? raspberry jam?) and, in exchange, find something they need or hadn't thought of (asparagus beans? pickled okra?)." 

Other creative food-saving measures mentioned include donating items to a food pantry or preserving, cooking, or juicing fruits and vegetables.