News and Media

Recently, Elon Musk announced plans for the Tesla Bot, a humanoid robot that stands 5 feet, 8 inches tall. Musk said the robot “probably won’t work.” I hope he is wrong.
Many people have an adverse reaction to discussions of automation and artificial intelligence. While I understand those fears, I believ...

If you ask managers, directors and executives to name the leaders of their company, most would be expected to point to themselves. They are the group who carry the formal, assigned responsibilities of leadership.
However, if you ask those same leaders to name people in the organization with the biggest influenc...

The Business Journal is seeking nominations for our annual CFO of the Year awards until July 22.
The awards recognize outstanding financial leaders at Twin Cities companies large and small. Chief financial officers are a crucial part of a company’s leadership team, but they're often overlooked outside of their offices, an...

Going green is no longer just a niche catchphrase. It has become an increasingly mainstream part of doing business. In fact, in one recent study, 78 percent of Americans said they would be more likely to purchase environmentally friendly products, with 64 percent also willing to pay more for thes...

It is a thrilling time to be in the life sciences. Investment and employment in this sector have seen unprecedented gains, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the speed of innovation has accelerated, as demonstrated by the rapid development and production of mRNA COVID-1...

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal this year is recognizing 70 organizations in the region that have created engaging, inclusive workplaces — a must-have in today's tight labor market.
Read full article.

The city of Minneapolis is the seventh-best place for outdoor enthusiasts to live and work, according to a ranking by New York-based SmartAsset.
SmartAsset compared 96 of the nation’s largest cities and ranked them on metrics related to livability, employment and outdoor options.
Read full article.

One of the major societal effects of the Covid-19 pandemic — aka The Big Reset — has been rapid and widespread growth of remote work, as companies allow more employees to perform tasks from their homes…or elsewhere. The biggest shift has been among office-based businesses, which require fewer on-site worker...

DEED Announces Grants to Help Internationally Trained Professionals Become Certified in Minnesota
Jun 9 2022St. Paul – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced the grant recipients of the Internationally Trained Professionals Competitive Grant Program to help fill in-demand health care positions. This program helps internationally trained health care workers earn the professional licenses required to do similar work in Minnesot...

Four Minnesota food and agriculture businesses participating in MBOLD's entrepreneurship program this year will get a boost from some of Minnesota's biggest corporations.
On Wednesday, MBOLD announced the 2022 cohort of its "Bold Growth" program, offering targeted support from senior leaders within its coalition, which includes Target Corp., General Mills Inc....

Supply chain struggles…labor shortages…rising costs…crises — These are just a few of the massive challenges today’s manufacturers face, paired with some of the greatest demand ever seen. Determining the best path forward for success now and in the future can be confusing and daunting. While there’s no perfect one-size-fits-all solution...

In recent years, record-breaking investment flowing into the life sciences sector has prompted unprecedented growth. As life sciences firms expand their facilities to keep up with demand, available space to accommodate these growing businesses — especially in well-known industry clusters like San Diego, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Are...

ST. PAUL – Job openings in Minnesota climbed to a record high in fourth quarter 2021, surpassing 214,000 total openings even as Minnesota employers continue to add jobs, according to figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
The number of fourth quarter 2021 vacancies wa...

Job vacancies in Minnesota swelled to another record high in the last three months of 2021 while the number of unemployed workers continued to decline in what has become a very tight labor market.
The state had about 214,000 job openings in the fourth quarter, surpassing the previous record of 205,00...

Details From DEED On Recouping UI Taxes
Jun 7 2022A UI Trust Fund fix was recently enacted and the new law impacts every employer in the state. Unfortunately, this change happened after employers were billed under the old tax rates and many businesses have already paid these higher taxes. On May 9, the Chamber hosted a webinar featuring DEE...

Station to Station
Jun 6 2022Remember as a child trying to learn the difference between “electric” and “electronic,” two words separated only by that “ON” switch in the middle?
Today — with a surge in EV demand and a shortage of semiconductors — they are the two most operative words in the automotive industry. How the...

Communities throughout the country are facing a housing crisis either due to a lack of housing units, as the result of prices skyrocketing past the level of affordability, or both. Solving this crisis requires creativity and the support of the entire community. As such, leaders who put forth policies withou...

Today, consumers, investors, and even employees are expecting more out of the companies they support. It doesn’t take much browsing on social media to read about brands that have earned widespread ire for falling short. About half of all consumers admit to publicly skewering businesses. Even if those brands ar...

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) that will award $95 million in broadband grants across the state, applications must be submitted by August 4, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. Building on appropriations from both the 2021 and 2022 legislative sessions, this gran...

Red Wing has been a historical model of entrepreneurism and business innovation in Minnesota for more than 100 years. Local companies like Red Wing Shoes and 3M have developed their international brands in manufacturing operations located in the city. That tradition continues today as Red Wing has become a bastio...

It’s one thing to come up with clever business ideas. It’s another thing to get them smoothly from planning to execution.
The road to innovation is paved with plenty of detours, potholes, and one-way streets. While some of them are unavoidable and unexpected—like a global pandemic—others can be anticipated. And tha...

The Tech 20 List: 2022
May 19 2022Minnesota has long been recognized as a medical device hub, thanks in large part to giants like Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and others. But over the years, the state’s technological input has grown and diversified significantly. As part of our ongoing reporting on Minnesota’s tech scene, we’re rounding up some o...

The blockchain has revolutionized business in many ways. It has opened up a wealth of new opportunities for savvy entrepreneurs, improved operations for lots of companies, and given consumers a whole new world of fun and methods of wealth creation. But as things like cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the Metaverse g...

Are you completely new to the world of search engine optimization (SEO)? Or, are you an old pro launching a new campaign? If so, you're going to be excited about the prospects of ranking first in Google for a given keyword or phrase. It's an important foundational achievement to se...