2010-03-01 Eagan Business NewsJOURNAL OF THE EAGAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY
First Quarter 2010 Vol. 9 No. 1
Business NewsEagan
Looking back…
e
t
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5 cool Eagan
businesses
inside this issue
)
page 4
Lockheed’s
big heart:
Employees helping others
continued on page 2
page 1
Business community
critical to
Eagan’s longevity
Dakota Electric Cooperative
crew members set a pole at the
Michael J. McCarthy farm in
Eagan Township in 1946. The
member-owned, not-for-profit
electric utility was founded
by local farmers, despite the
Great Depression, in 1937
with the help of the Rural
Electrification Administration.
Watch the State of the City Address by Webstream at www.cityofeagan.com.
To subscribe to E-Biz or our printed publication, Eagan Business News,visit www.cityofeagan.com/EBN.
Mayor Mike Maguire (left), with city
administrator Tom Hedges, often referenced
Eagan’s thriving business community—the
city boasts greater than 50,000 jobs—
during his State of the City
address on March 5.
Hedges’ thus-far
33-year career
as Eagan’s City
Administrator, was
honored by a
spontaneous stand-
ing ovation during
the speech.
During Eagan’s annual State of the
City address, presented at a special
Sesquicentennial luncheon on March 5, Mayor
Mike Maguire provided a broad sweep of the
city’s 150-year history, with several nods to
the businesses that have helped grow the
community—right from the very beginning.
For many decades, farming was Eagan’s
number-one business. In fact, “for just shy of
three decades,” said Maguire, “Eagan was
known as the Onion Capitol of the United
States.” Other early businesspeople he
mentioned included shopkeepers, horse-drawn
drivers who delivered milk to creameries and
even enterprising moonshiners.
Of course, Maguire also recognized periodic
economic challenges, including the time of
Eagan’s birth and also the Great Depression.
“Much like today, the number of foreclosures
Sesquicentennial: State of the City 2010
Business community critical to Eagan’s longevity
and the volatility of the economy were a
concern.” Businesspeople today, he noted,
certainly understand such downturns.
Following World War II, businesses rallied
back: The McKee trucking firm originated in
the area, building a housing development—
still called the McKee Addition—for its
employees. “Eagan also saw the beginnings
of its high-tech base with Gopher Resource,
Lull Engineering and Sperry Univac [now
Lockheed Martin].” Later came Blue Cross
Blue Shield, Midwest Coca-Cola, West
Publishing (now Thomson Reuters), Northwest
Airlines (now Delta), Ecolab, Delta Dental and
many other employers—large and small.
Maguire noted that Eagan is most successful
when everyone works together. “Citizens and
business owners need to stay engaged to
help us spot issues,” he said.
Throughout his presentation, Maguire talked
about the City’s history of innovation, fiscal
prudence, leadership and people helping
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people — all traits found in
today’s successful Eagan
businesses.
“[Early on] able-bodied
male residents [of Eagan]
were each assessed two
days a year to clear and
make roads,” said Maguire,
who then pointed to local
corporations, including Blue
Cross Blue Shield, Lockheed
Martin and Thomson Reuters,
which carry on the giving
tradition, encouraging com-
munity volunteerism among
their employee populations.
“It really makes you won-
der,” he asked, “what we
could accomplish if all
Eagan residents donated
two days a year to make
the City a better place.” ■
Longevity
continued from page 1
2 Eagan Business NEWS
JOURNAL OF THE EAGAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY
5 cool Eagan businesses
you may never have heard of
With a creative push-the-envelope, environmentally friendly approach,
Big Ink Display Graphics has been providing display graphics to
corporations, retailers, events, promotions and tradeshows through-
out the country since 1987. Producing everything from corporate
wallpaper to murals, window films to light boxes, stand-up cutouts
to 3-D shapes, magnetic bus signs to vehicle wraps and much
more, this 20-employee company also gives back to the community,
supporting myriad charities.
Biothera,a 13-year-old immune health company, is developing a
carbohydrate technology that triggers innate immune cells to recog-
nize and destroy pathogens or, in other words, cancer. “The discov-
ery of this keystone technology has the potential to dramatically
enhance existing treatments for most major types of cancer,” reads
its website. Today, this privately held company is commercializing its
technology, producing both a cancer drug and patented, edible,
“food-grade” ingredients.
Anyway you look at it, Cool Clean Technologies is aptly named.
Holding more than 80 patents, the company provides environmentally
friendly cleaning technologies and equipment that use carbon
dioxide—recycled from other industries—which eliminates the
need for fossil-fuel-based organic solvents and their resulting
In this day of 24-7 news, constant tweets
and moment-by-moment Facebook statuses
—even for businesses—you might be
surprised to discover cool companies
you’ve never heard of, especially those
close to home.
At EBN,we strive to keep our finger on
the pulse of local business activity. But we,
too, are often surprised to find a hip new
enterprise doing business in the City of
Eagan. Below, check out five such
oh-so-cool businesses.
Cutting Edge Creations, Inc.,has been
designing and manufacturing inflatables
since 1986. Originally creating inflatables
for advertising—think gorillas atop car
dealerships—the company then expanded
into inflatable replicas—giant athletic shoes,
trucks and more. In the 1990s the company
jumped into another line, producing “rides,”
not only inflatable bouncers but slides and
obstacles. “We are so good at executing
what we design, we thought we could do a
whole lot better job with rides than other
companies,” says President Brian Field,
whose company locally employs 45 workers.
Today, Cutting Edge Creations’ sought-after,
safety-focused designs—a slide that looks
like a giant octopus sinking a ship, for
example—are featured at corporate picnics,
trade shows, community events and carnivals.
Perhaps you’ve dined at French Meadow
Bakery & Café, the well-known organic
eatery, in South Minneapolis. But you may
not realize that its parent company, French
Meadow Bakery,produces its extensive
and award-winning product line of gluten-
free, vegan, yeast-free and kosher parve
foods in Eagan, shipping to supermarkets
across the United States. The nation’s
longest continuously running certified organ-
ic bakery uses only natural ingredients and
no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
All of the bakery’s healthful products—
including breads, tortillas, bagels, cakes and
cookies—are “known for their great taste,
First Quarter 2010
global-warming waste products. CCT is hugely popular in states
that have banned perc, the dry cleaning chemical and likely human
carcinogen. Meanwhile, the company continues to develop other
carbon-dioxide applications.
Ergotron has been in recent headlines as inventor of WorkFit™
sit-or-stand workstations, touted for making employees feel better
while they work at computers. But this privately owned company
has been on a mission “to improve the human experience” with
computers since 1982. Today, its products are backed by 35-plus
patents, and the company’s best-practice commitment is in great
evidence, thanks to its ISO and OHSAS (Occupational Health and
Safety Assessment Series) certifications.
What’s cooler than Ring Mountain Creamery Café?Only located
in Eagan, this restaurant is known for its “100 percent skimp-free
ice cream and gelato”—20 flavors each, from green tea to
stracciatella. Colorful surroundings communicate personality,
customer service is attentive and free live music plays on Friday
nights. This community-oriented café also holds events, including a
benefit that raised $4,000 for Tribute to the Troops. Need a quiet
spot to work during the day? This café’s got that covered too with
a full coffee bar and free wifi. ■
And 5 more cool Eagan businesses you probably have
Eagan Business NEWS 3
2010 First QuarterJOURNAL OF THE EAGAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY
g EBN is printed on paper which contains a minimum of 10% post consumer fiber.
texture and functionality.” Consumers also
can order its products online.
Jump Technologies attracts both business
partners and consumers with two very
different software offerings, although both
gather and use data. Its most popular, with
100,000 users, is Nabbit®, a free service to
radio stations and consumers that invites
users to “nab” content—for example, a
product name in a radio commercial—via a
text message and
then act on it—say,
download a $10
coupon—at a more
convenient time. “We
can make just about
anything interactive,”
says President
John Freund, whose
company has nine
employees. “Nabbit
lets you leverage
mobile, digital and
social.” The service
also works with
print ads.
Its second product, JumpCart™, is a simple
and effective supply procurement solution
sold to distributor partners and relied on
by 20,000 users. A user simply scans
barcodes of needed items, then plugs
Jump Technologies’ simple scanner into
a USB computer port, and an order is
automatically generated. That means no
keying, faster and more accurate orders,
just-in-time inventories, and more economical
purchase-order production. Cool.
Packnet Ltd.is a newcomer to Eagan,
having consolidated its operations to a
38,000-square-foot headquarters in January
to run longer shifts and provide quicker
turnarounds for customers. “Eagan has a
good concentration of great industries,
and many of our existing customers are in
the surrounding area,” says Dan Schultze,
general sales manager. “We are very happy
with our new location.” Yet the company—
having grown from a one-person shop to
40 employees today—has been supplying
custom packaging solutions and shipping
services to its Upper Midwest customers
since 1988. Today its custom retail
packaging NueSku division is growing
quickly, offering a total domestic solution
to the complexity and expense of pursuing
retail-packaging design abroad.
Sushi Avenue supplies fresh sushi products
—from California rolls to sashimi—to super-
markets across the country. Last year the
five-year-old company added 18 grocery
stores. In just the first two months of 2010,
the firm rolled 25 locations into its client list,
now numbering 175. “We bring new needed
things—operational leadership, customer
service and marketing support—to the
marketplace,” says Steve Tomasini, director
of marketing. Sushi Avenue makes it easy
for grocery stores to sign on, offering a
turnkey business, even supplying up to six
experienced on-site sushi chefs per location.
The company also daily provides sushi
products to select corporate and college
cafeterias in the greater Twin Cities area. ■
•PEOPLE:Ed Bastian,current
president of Delta Air Lines, Inc.,
and former CEO of Northwest
Airlines, has been named to the
airline’s board of directors…
Gary Hansen,Eagan City
Councilmember, was elected vice
chairman of the Minnesota Valley
Transit Authority Board of
Directors… Mike Walsh,president
of DeCare Dental,was selected
to lead WellPoint’s dental business;
WellPoint owns DeCare Dental…
Eagan attorney Conor Tobin helped
to create a Dakota County panel to
provide pro bono legal services to
low-income individuals charged with
crimes but who cannot afford a
private attorney and don’t qualify for
a public defender.
•BUSINESS:The Blue Cross and
Blue Shield of Minnesota
Foundation awarded $2.5 million in
grants to nonprofit organizations
hard hit by the recession and in
support of projects under its
statewide grant-making initiatives
that improve health by tackling key
social conditions… Graham
Construction Services,based in
Eagan, was awarded three contracts
for educational and dormitory facility
projects valued at a combined total
of $33.5 million… According to the
Minnesota Valley Transit
Authority,bus ridership dropped
8 percent to 2.4 million rides last
year due to the economy and lower
gas prices.
•GOVERNMENT:Thanks to a
$1.338 million Department of
Energy grant,TRAK International,
a division of Harris Companies, has
begun installing a geothermal heat
pump system at the Eagan Civic
Arena; according to Cherryl Mesko,
the City’s superintendent of
operations, the project—“only a
pipedream” without the 50 percent
funding—is guaranteed by Harris to
save the City $130,000 in energy
and operational costs the first
year alone.
•Not on E-Biz’s email list?
To subscribe to E-Biz or our printed
publication, Eagan Business News,
visit www.cityofeagan.com/EBN. ■
Briefly
From Sushi Avenue's production kitchen in
Eagan, head chef Myint Thu and five other
sushi chefs make 25 kinds of sushi—more
than 10,000 individual pieces—from 4 a.m. to
8 a.m. each workday. Sushi Avenue supplies
fresh product or on-site sushi chefs to 175
locations around the country.
Eagan
4 Eagan Business NEWS
Business News
)page 1
Business community critical
to Eagan’s longevity
epage 2
5 cool Eagan
businesses
tpage 4
Lockheed’s big heart:
Employees helping others
inside this issue
3830 Pilot Knob Road ●Eagan, MN 55122
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Editor Karin B. Miller, Working Words, Inc.
Designer Brent Kastler, Kastler Art & Design
Send comments and story ideas to
EBN@cityofeagan.com.
Lockheed’s big heart: Employees helping others
In honor of National Engineers Week last month, 26 Lockheed
Martin employees left behind their regular assignments for a
time to volunteer in 13 local classrooms, hoping to inspire
students to pursue careers in engineering.
Yet volunteerism is nothing new to Lockheed—in fact, Mayor
Mike Maguire noted the company’s efforts, along with those of
other businesses, in his State of the City address on March 5.
Lockheed employees throughout the company are encouraged
to give back to their communities — and do so regularly.
“The numbers are staggering,” says Peggy Mulliken,
community relations manager. “In just two months of 2010,
employees have logged over 1,800 volunteer hours. In
2009, our employees gave 26,000 volunteer hours, just
in Minnesota.”
Employees give back in myriad ways: They weekly volunteer
in classrooms as Math Mentors and Reading Buddies. Dozens
participate in E-mentoring, online partnerships whereby volun-
teers answer high school students’ questions and concerns
about college. Employees annually participate in events such
as Relay for Life and Tee It Up for the Troops. They adopted
the 34th Infantry Division, a.k.a. the Red Bulls, helping families
of deployed soldiers by painting their decks, winterizing their
homes and more. And the
company holds special
events: Last November, 18
Lockheed Martin engineers
introduced 90 young women
from eight local high schools
to engineering during the
company’s ninth-annual
“Women in Engineering Day.”
One of the company’s biggest
endeavors is Engineers in the
Classroom. “The program
began four years ago as a K-through-12 pipeline designed to
develop the next generation of engineers,” Mulliken explains.
Lockheed engineers volunteer at all educational levels, and
many add an extracurricular component, mentoring members
of organizations such as the Eagan Robotics and Apple Valley
Science Olympiad teams.
“We encourage volunteerism at all levels,” says Mulliken, “and
our management is truly behind it, allowing employees to work
their schedules to include volunteering. We think it makes better
citizens and employees when we’re well rounded that way.” ■
Lockheed Martin engineer John
Condon mentors Eagan High
School robotics team members.