Business

Toy-makers from China to Snelling Avenue will feel the effects of new child safety legislation. Here in Minnesota, makers of hand-crafted toys say the new law may put them out of business. MORE »

In an apparent compromise between developer Clark Gassen and the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA), the historic Florence Court apartments could be renovated as part of the project to build a new six-story, 84-unit apartment building at the site, where a BP gas station now stands at the corner of University Avenue on the north end of the 10th Avenue bridge. MORE »

Several Minnesota nonprofits are feeling the pain in the aftermath of alleged investor fraud case — the largest such case in history — perpetrated by Bernie Madoff. All of the grants received by Minnesota organizations were from the New York–based JEHT Foundation, which gets its name from its four areas of commitment: Justice, Equality, Human dignity and Tolerance. The organization and its benefactors invested heavily in operations by Madoff that bilked investors out of $50 billion. More than $1.1 million dollars in JEHT Foundation grants benefited voter engagement, human rights, care for terminally ill patient and criminal justice programs in Minnesota over the last two years. MORE »

Business owners in Northfield, Minnesota, talk about the impact of the economic crisis on their businesses and on Northfield’s long-term development. MORE »

Despite treacherous road conditions and frigid temperatures, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) addressed a packed room in St. Paul to unveil a detailed report on the recession’s impact on nonprofits statewide. MCN’s presentation included a mixture of disheartening statistics, hopeful predictions, and strategies to address the ominous reality. MORE »

To get the real scoop on women, money and the economy, we talked with four top executives in the Twin Cities banking industry about how women are reacting to the economic crisis and about their own personal money philosophies. MORE »

Our colleagues at the Iowa Independent hail Gov. Tom Vilsack, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for agriculture secretary, as a “consummate pragmatist” who has “endeared himself to both the left and the right.” But one group that’s not so fond of Obama’s selection is the Finland, Minn.–based Organic Consumers’ Association. It reacted to today’s announcement with a petition calling for organic producers and consumers to urge Obama to block the nomination, highlighting Vilsack’s support for factory farming and biotechnology. MORE »

Bulldoze the house and make it a parking lot or designate it as a historic landmark and restore it as livable space — that’s the choice, and dilemma, for neighbors of the Fjelde House at 3009 Park Avenue in Minneapolis and James and Kristen Schoffman, who bought the building, planning to tear it down. MORE »