Zagat’s Best Restaurants
Chamber member restaurants Restaurant Alma and Manny’s Steakhouse made the annual Zagat list of best restaurants. In the “other noteworthy places” category, Cosmos and Kincaid’s are named. This year’s Zagat guide incorporated the opinions of more than 156,000 diners from around the country, the company said in a press release. The national survey rates and reviews 1,578 restaurants from throughout the country.
Himle Rapp & Company
Himle Horner, Inc., a strategic public relations and public affairs firm, opens its new and expanded downtown Minneapolis office under its new name—Himle Rapp & Company, Inc. The company is located on the 24th floor of the Accenture Tower at 333 South Seventh Street in Minneapolis. The firm’s new identity is named for John Himle (CEO) and Todd Rapp, who became an owner in 2008. The company announced it has hired Allison O’Toole as Director and Elizabeth Giorgi as Senior Account Executive. Both will assist clients in public affairs, corporate communications, reputation management, crisis communications and grassroots.
Marco
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal named Jennifer Mrozek, CFO at Marco, Inc. as the CFO of the Year winner in the medium private company category. Mrozek has been with Marco since 1998 and became CFO in 2003. Her tenure as CFO has been marked by helping the company grow its revenue from $40 million to $90 million and doubling its profits. Mrozek has also taken a lead role in negotiations and system integration for seven companies it acquired over the past two years.
U.S. Bank
G.I. Jobs Magazine has named U.S. Bank one of the nation’s Top 100 Military Friendly Employers®. The list, drawn from a sample of approximately 5,000 companies (those with more than $500 million annual revenues), was created based on company criteria including the strength of military recruiting efforts, the percentage of new hires with prior military service, and company policies toward National Guard and Reserve service. As part of this project, the company recently announced it will double its military hiring in 2012. To aid in that effort, the company has launched a military-specific recruiting website, http://proudtoserve.usbank.com, which helps service members identify areas at U.S. Bank where their skills and interests might be a match. And 100 U.S. Bank employees in the Twin Cities metro area repackaged more than 24,000 pounds of bulk food for Second Harvest Heartland for the holiday season. U.S. Bank’s volunteers repackaged the food at Second Harvest Heartland’s Minneapolis distribution center. The food provided more than 19,000 meals.
Comcast
Ralph Martinez is the new Regional Vice President of the Twin Cities region for Comcast. He comes from the Southwest Bay Area of Comcast’s California region where he served as Area Vice President, bringing with him 27 years of telecommunication experience. In the community, the company had a very successful United Way campaign with their employees, raising a total of $94,000 through pledges & special events. And Comcast kicked off another year of partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Twin Cities and the Beyond School Walls program. Forty three students from the KIPP Stand Academy go the Comcast St. Paul offices twice a month where Comcast employees shared educational activities and play games with their students.
ECCO and CMA
The Danish owned shoe store ECCO, designed by the architectural firm CMA, opened at the Mall of America (MOA) in Bloomington in November 2011. ECCO announced that the
MOA store is its 1,000th location worldwide. This most recent store at the Mall of America is one of a total of 12 ECCO stores, designed and constructed by a combination of CMA and American Construction that are located in various areas throughout the U.S. The Mall of America store is 1,000 square feet in size and features custom sales area, display fixtures and lighting.
Restaurant Alma & Manny’s Steakhouse
The James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalist list named Restaurant Alma as a contender for Outstanding Restaurant and Manny’s Steakhouse in the running for Outstanding Service award. Winners of the Chef & Restaurant awards will be announced at the 2012 James Beard Foundation Awards on May 7th.
Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon & Vogt, P.A
The Twin Cities’ law firm of Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon & Vogt, P.A. announced the addition of immigration attorney, Piyumi M. Samaratunga, where she will serve as Practice Group Chair for the firm’s immigration practice. Ms. Samaratunga and her legal team works with employers seeking to attract highly educated employees in various fields including health care, technology, Molly Gherty has joined the firm's Minneapolis Office. Ms. Gherty will focus her practice in the areas of business organizations and transactional and real estate. Joshua Hillger has joined the firm. He practices in the areas of Estate Planning and Estate Administration. Ryan Olson was appointed a new shareholder. Mr. Olson has been with the firm since 2004, and represents clients in commercial, employment, and labor matters in Minnesota and North Dakota.
Gray Plant Mooty
The law firm of Gray Plant Mooty announced another addition to its roster of intellectual property and technology legal experts with Michael R. Cohen joining the firm as a principal. Cohen has special expertise in intellectual property related transactions & served as the past president of the Minnesota State Bar Association Computer Law Section. The firm also announced the addition of three associates to the firm’s Minneapolis office. Ashley Bennett Weald has rejoined the firm as an associate in the Litigation practice group. She spent several years as an associate and member of the Franchise & Distribution practice group in the firm’s Washington, DC, office. Nicholas H. Callahan has also joined the Litigation practice group & Karen E.N. Wenzel as a member of the Corporate & Business practice group. The firm also announced that Bruce Mooty has been appointed chairperson of the firm’s board of directors. In the position, Mooty will work closely with David Bahls, the firm’s managing officer.
Weber Shandwick
Weber Shandwick announced the following promotions: Rachel Cabman to account executive in the consumer marketing practice group, Elisa Dingmans to senior account executive in the corporate, community and public affairs practice, Keith Grumman to Account Executive in the financial services practice; Sarah Stinkstone, APR, to account group manager in the healthcare group, Angela (Role) Thompson to account group manager in the consumer marketing practice and Jackie Voss to account supervisor in the healthcare practice group. And for the second time in three years, Barb Iverson, president of Weber Shandwick’s global financial services practice, was named Financial Communications Executive of the Year at the PR News 2011 People Awards. The PR News People Awards are given annually to the top public relations professionals in the United States and recognize their achievements over the previous year. And the company received the top industry award at the 2010 North Central National Agriculture Marketing Association (NAMA) Chapter’s Best of NAMA Awards. The agency’s Farm and Food Advocacy practice group won Best of Show Public Relations for its clients, Minnesota Pork Board (MPB) and Minnesota Pork Producers Association (MPPA), and the campaign entitled “Oink Outings.” The Best of NAMA Awards honor the best work in agricultural marketing. In addition to the Best of Show Public Relations award, Weber Shandwick also earned two first place honors and two merit honors.
Mall of America
Travel + Leisure magazine announced that the Mall of America is the most visited shopping mall in America - and by a wide margin. The magazine estimates the Mall of America has about 40 million visitors a year, which is about 43 percent more than the second-place finisher, Ventura Mall in Ventura, Fla., which has about 28 million visitors a year. Travel + Leisure notes that the 40 million MOA visitors is about equal to the number of tourists who travel to Italy annually.
Minnesota Twins/Target Field
The U.S. Green Building Council U.S. awarded Target Field its Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification for green operations and maintenance. The honor comes less than two years after the ballpark received LEED Silver certification for new construction. It now is the first professional sports facility to attain LEED certification in both categories. Target Field's sustainable features include: capturing and reusing rainwater, recycling and converting waste to energy, reducing consumption of electricity, green cleaning and donating unused food to local charities.
Arthur, Chapman, Kettering, Seta & Pikul, PA
Arthur, Chapman, Kettering, Seta & Pikul, P.A. announced the election of Susan K.H. Conley and Shayne M. Haman as shareholders. Ms. Conley joined Arthur Chapman in 2007 and has practiced law for more than 20 years in the areas of workers’ compensation and general liability. Ms. Haman joined Arthur Chapman in 2006 and has extensive experience in the area of automobile related litigation.
Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For – General Mills
General Mills has been named to Fortune magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For." ranking # 63 on the list. The magazine noted that General Mills has promoted 85% of its officers from within the company – nearly half of them started in entry-level positions.
Larkin, Hoffman, Daly & Lindgren, Ltd.
Larkin Hoffman’s Government Relations practice welcomed attorney Robert C. Long. Mr. Long has many years of experience in the public and private sectors in legal, government and corporate settings and has focused his practice on federal and state government relations, specializing in local government, energy, real estate and development issues.
Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP
The Minneapolis law firm of Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP announced the election of two partners: Sam Hellfeld and Aaron Scott, effective January 1. Both Mr. Hellfeld & Mr. Scott are members of the Business Litigation Practice Group.
AAA Four Diamond Awards – Hotels
Eight Chamber member hotels have been awarded AAA Four Diamond Awards. Only 4.8 percent of the 31,000 lodgings approved by AAA make the Four Diamond list. The Chamber member hotels receiving the awards are: Westin Edina Galleria, Westin Minneapolis, The Marquette Hotel, graves 601 hotel, Radisson Plaza Hotel Minneapolis, Hilton Minneapolis, The Grand Hotel and Sofitel Minneapolis.
The Bailey Group
The Bailey Group has promoted co-principal and consultant Martha Carlson to Chief Operating Officer. Carlson joined The Bailey Group in 2006 and has a core focus on executive coaching, high potential leader development and women executive development. She will continue to work with clients while managing and forecasting firm capacity, leading marketing, developing new products and overseeing operational improvements.
Best Western Plus at Mall of America & Welsh Companies
The Best Western Plus hotel won an Award of Excellence from the Minnesota chapter of NAIOP in the category of Repositioned/Renovated Greater than 75,000 square feet category. The renovation was of a 165,000-square-foot former Days Inn constructed in 1971. Welsh Companies (Construction, Development and Capital) worked together to renovate the 211 hotel rooms and add a new splash pad, restaurant, fitness center and conference center. The outside of the building got a new brick and glass face-lift and the property received a new heating and air conditioning system.
Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, P.A.
Tom Dougherty and Dan Young have been appointed co-chairs of Lommen Abdo's Business Law Group. The firm continues to expand its legal capabilities and expertise in the areas of closely held business, intellectual property, employment law, mergers and acquisitions, financing and securities, tax, real estate/land use and entertainment-related law in Minnesota and Wisconsin. And Greg Perleberg has joined the firm as a shareholder effective February 1, 2012. As part of the Lommen Abdo’s Corporate and Entertainment, IP & Sports groups, Perleberg’s's focus will continue to be in the areas of e-commerce, technology and intellectual property.
Touchstone Testing
Touchstone Testing (dba Any Lab Test Now) has opened up a new location in Bloomington, the third in the metro area. These locations provide health & wellness testing as well as being available on a mobile basis.
HunterSage Marketing
Marketing Source USA has changed its name to HunterSage Marketing. The new website can be found at www.huntersage.
Target Corporation
Target Corp. was one of 29 companies — and the only one based in Minnesota — named to an annual list of "America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises."The 13th annual list was released Wednesday by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. The council says the award recognizes companies “for developing and driving innovative best practices across their organizations that result in productive business partnerships with women entrepreneurs.”
Kraus Anderson Companies
Kelly Brenna, SPHR, director of HR and benefits services for Kraus-Anderson Insurance (KAI), has been selected to join the Medica Broker Advisory Council for 2012. She is one of only eight insurance professionals chosen by Medica out of hundreds in Minnesota to serve in this capacity. And for the third consecutive year. Brenna was honored with the 2012”Five Star Health Insurance Professional Award.” Presented by Twin Cities Business magazine, the award measures the client performance and satisfaction of local health insurance professionals.
Be the Match Foundation (National Marrow Donor Program)
The National Marrow Donor Program is the sole Minnesota entry on this year's "Most Innovative Companies" list compiled by Fast Company. The magazine credits the group with using technology to greatly speed up transplant times and drive recruitment using social media. The Minneapolis-based nonprofit operates its Be The Match registry to pair donors with patients who need marrow transplants. The NMDP shares the honor with companies like Apple & Facebook.
| Minneapolis Regional Chamber 81 South Ninth Street, Suite 200 Minneapolis, MN 55402 |
info@minneapolischamber.org |
