2012-03-01 Eagan Business NewsFirst Quarter 2012 Vol. 11 No. 1
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InBusiness News
JOURNAL OF THE EAGAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY
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State of City highlights "foundations for success" —
Eagan looks ahead
A crowd of nearly 100 gathered at Eagan's
new Fire Safety Center to hear Mayor Mike
Maguire deliver the 2012 State of the City
address on March 15. The annual event
largely focused on the legacy of both elected
leaders and city staff members who've served
Eagan and its citizens for decades.
"The fact that Eagan has become one of
Minnesota's major employment centers and a
place with a reputation for low taxes and
excellent services, a place where citizens
engage, state leaders are made, and which
Money magazine recognizes as one of the
best cities in the U.S. is no accident," said
Maguire. "Many of these accomplishments
are due in no small part to the foundation
for success put in place by the leaders who
have come before us and those who have
mentored us."
Maguire noted that the City is poised to relin-
quish a great deal of that experience as many
staff members have recently retired or are
beginning to plan for retirement, among them
Tom Hedges, Eagan's only
and "devoted" city administrator for the past
35 -plus years.
Yet Maguire asserted his and the City
Council's confidence in Eagan's future, thanks
to a new generation of leaders and to City
values, each of which he bolstered with
examples. "Eagan Way" values included:
• asking what's best for residents;
• paying as you go and knowing how you're
going to pay;
• working collaboratively with other cities,
agencies, the County, private businesses
and citizens; and
• believing in open communication with
citizens and stakeholders.
Maguire also highlighted recent successes:
• The new Fire Safety Center — the first
Green Globe -certified fire station in the
nation — allows on-site training capability
and has cut response time to emergencies
from 12 minutes to just over six minutes.
continued on
page 2
Among those presiding over the State of the City event, held at the new Fire Safety Center,
were (from left) Tom Hedges, Eagan city administrator; Ruthe Batulis, president of the
Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce; and Mayor Mike Maguire.
First Quarter 2012 JOURNAL OF THE EAGAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Eagan: A climate for growth representing Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in 13 states.
"Eagan's friendly culture is welcoming for an expanding business."
There's no doubt about it.
The U.S. economy is on the mend:
On average, 245,000 new jobs were created
monthly during December, January and February.
The jobless rate has fallen faster than most
economists had predicted, dropping to 8.3 percent
already — a far cry from the most recent high of
10.2 percent back in 2009.
• And both personal income growth and personal
savings are rising, something Mark Doms, chief
economist, U.S. Department of Commerce, calls
"important economic news."
Eagan's economic outlook is positive too. "We're feeling
strength in our community," says Tom Hedges, longtime
administrator for the City of Eagan. Besides improving
statistics [e.g., Eagan's unemployment rate was just 4.4% in
December (not seasonally adjusted)], Hedges points to
numerous business moves to and expansions within Eagan.
Among them, Ecolab is building a $10 million, 51,000 -square -
foot training and research -and -development facility. The United
States Postal Service is moving mail processing from Duluth,
Rochester, La Crosse and Eau Claire to its Eagan facility —
the St. Paul Processing & Distribution Center — bringing 200
jobs along with the move. And Prime Therapeutics, an Eagan -
based pharmacy -benefit management company, is adding at
least 300 information technology and business analyst jobs at
the former Buffets Inc. building.
"Eagan's business climate is excellent," says Eric Elliott, CEO
of Prime Therapeutics, which is privately held by organizations
In December, Prime Therapeutics announced its plan to accept
a $500,000 forgivable loan from the Minnesota Department of
Employment and Economic Development (DEED), which
enables it to add the 300 -plus jobs. Of course, the company
could have expanded elsewhere — it has offices in nine U.S.
cities — but selected Eagan. "The City of Eagan and Dakota
County have been great partners for Prime, and we were
happy to put down more roots here."
Other companies sing Eagan's praises
For more than 30 years, Thomson Reuters has had a presence
in Eagan, beginning in the late 1970s when its manufacturing
division moved from St. Paul; then its warehousing and printing
moved to Eagan in the 1980s. By 1990, it only made sense to
centralize all business functions at its expandable Eagan campus.
"The benefits of Eagan are many," says Michele Engdahl,
manager, Government and Community Affairs. "We can attract
employees to work here, and we can retain them. We have the
benefits of being close to an urban metro, and we have a smart
workforce - highly skilled and qualified — in the Twin Cities."
Engdahl, who also serves as chair -elect of the Dakota County
Regional Chamber of Commerce, then lists some of Eagan's
amenities: location, infrastructure, high-quality housing, an
attractive school district, public transportation, art organiza-
tions, parks and more. All of this adds up to more than half of
Thomson Reuters' employees choosing to live in Dakota County.
Engdahl also commends the City's approach to development,
technology and innovation. "E -TV — our public-private partner-
ship with the City — is a great example of innovation," she
says. "And the focus on technology is critical to a business
like ours. Plus, Tom Hedges and his wisdom have brought a
thoughtful approach to expansion as we've expanded our
State of City continued from page 1 IWW
• Despite work -force reductions at Lockheed Martin and although "interest activity is up" in the "most shovel -ready
Delta, Eagan is a regional jobs leader. One example redevelopment district in the state," dealing with budget
offered was Prime Therapeutics' announcement in pressures and avoiding partisanship by focusing on "what's
December of its plan to add at least 300 new jobs. best for Eagan."
Soon Five 9s Digital will break ground on The Connexion,
a 138,000 -square -foot data center, which could attract
millions of dollars in investment to Eagan; the City spent
less than $200,000 non -tax dollars to conduct a feasibility
study to attract such a private data center.
Maguire concluded his remarks by mentioning future
challenges, among them further developing Cedar Grove
2 Eagan Business NEWS
"For those who have served Eagan so long, and who are
rightfully proud of Eagan's accomplishments, if we truly
want to grow that forward-looking legacy, we must be
willing to hand it off and entrust it to new leaders, new
managers, newly engaged citizens who will improve upon
the Eagan that all of you, and all of us, have built." ■
JOURNAL OF THE EAGAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY
business. City staff are smart and savvy. Any business person
should be looking for that."
Tom Salonek would agree. CEO of Intertech, a 40 -employee
software training and consulting firm, offers his most recent
experience of working with the City: He found a building in
an office -concentrated area — "Eagan does a good job of
zoning," he says — and then remodeled it to become
Intertech's new 7,000 -square -foot headquarters. "Different
issues came up, but we appreciated that the City was
reasonable, straightforward and responsive."
Salonek started Intertech in 1991 out of his Eagan home, then
moved it twice to other communities before moving back to
Eagan in 1999. Location was definitely a draw, Salonek says,
as was the City's technology focus. "Anyone with a high-tech
business can benefit from the fact that Thomson Reuters is
here and that [Communications Director] Tom Garrison is doing
a solid job in helping fiber be used throughout Eagan."
Salonek also touts nearby conveniences, including plenty of
nearby retailers and restaurants. "It's hard for suburbs farther
out to match the nice amenities in Eagan."
Engdahl takes it a step further: "Eagan has all the things you
would look for from a downtown without some of the down
sides — we've got less congestion, free parking and plenty of
green space." That said, she adds, "Eagan is a big suburb, but
it feels small and connected. I bump into people I know all the
time. If you want to feel connection, you can do that in Eagan
and Dakota County. It's right there waiting for you." ■
2012 First Quarter
Business truths in a nutshell
Tom Salonek is not just the founder and
CEO of Intertech. He's also the author of EE
Building a Winning Business: 70 Takeaways for Creating a Strong Company during Good and Bad Economic Times.
"When I go to conferences, I'm always writ-
ing down notes on practical, implementable
stuff," he says, explaining his approach. "I
wanted to create a book that was just that:
no back stories or supporting data, just implementable ideas."
Salonek's words of wisdom include Hire Slowly (#1), Know
What Matters (#17) and Make Your Values Come Alive (#21).
But he would be surprised if every takeaway applies to your
business. "If there's a takeaway that doesn't work, turn the
page and go to the next one."
Asked if a younger version of himself would have appreciated
Building a Winning Business back when he started Intertech,
Salonek says, "There are a lot of things in there that I wish
I would have known 20 years ago." But he also appreciates
other business books. His favorite? Mastering the Rockefeller
Habits by Verne Harnish.
Also available as an eBook"Building a Winning Business
features 27 website downloads, including checklists, forms
and surveys. With such a user-friendly approach, reviews
have been glowing. Says the Clarion Review: "[Salonek's]
aphorisms are spot-on." ■
Q&A What business book are you reading?
® EBN is printed on paper which contains a minimum of 10% post consumer fiber. Eagan Business NEWS 3
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r City of Eayn TWIN C TIES. MN
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3830 Pilot Knob Road • Eagan, MN 55122
Editor Karin B. Miller, Working Words, Inc.
Designer Brent Kastler, Illumine Associates, Inc.
Briefly
• PEOPLE: Kenneth Burdick, former senior vice president at
Coventry Health Care, has replaced Patrick Geraghty as CEO of
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota.... Shaunice Hawkins, an
expert in growing brand visibility, served as keynote speaker at the
second -annual WomEn's Conference, hosted by the Dakota County
Regional Chamber of Commerce on March 1.... Carolyn Link has
been named executive director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of
Minnesota Foundation.... Blake Westling, who works at Byerly's
Eagan location, took second place out of 23 competitors at the
National Grocers Association's 26th Best Bagger Championship in
Las Vegas in February. His no -holds -barred training technique?
Practicing blindfolded and in 105 -degree heat.
• BUSINESS: MonaVie has selected Wellmune WGP�, a natural
immune health ingredient from Eagan -based Biothera, for its new
health juice.... The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
campus in Eagan sold for $152.9 million to W.P. Carey & Co., which
will offer a long-term lease to Blue Cross.... For the third time in the
past five years, Delta Air Lines issued profit-sharing, offering $27
million in checks to its Minnesota workforce as part of $264 million
given to employees systemwide. In other Delta news, the company is
selling Northwest Airlines' former 190 -acre campus in Eagan for $17
million, discounted from the original asking price of $34 million....
Diversified Information Technologies, a Pennsylvania -based
document management company, is opening a 64,000 -square -foot
building in Eagan, which will house both paper and electronic docu-
ments for clients.... Minnesota and Wisconsin franchisees of the
Eagan -based Jet -Black International will replace its coal -tar -based
4 Eagan Business NEWS
Blake Westling of Byerly's Eagan and Stephanie Teteak of Larry's
Piggly Wiggly in Kaukauna, Wis., hear the news: Teteak and Westling
take first and second place respectively during the Best Bagger
Championship in Las Vegas on Feb. 13.
driveway sealants with asphalt -based coatings to help curb chemical
pollution in storm -water ponds.... Despite Old Country Buffets
bankruptcy and the closure of 81 restaurants in other states, all of the
Eagan -based company's restaurants in Minnesota will remain open....
The Travel Academy, a career school providing flight -attendant,
travel -agent and cruise -ship training, has moved its operations from
Bloomington to Eagan.... California State University, the largest U.S.
public university, has contracted Unisys Corporation to provide
cloud -based IT services; additionally, Unisys will implement the universi-
ty's disaster recovery system at its Eagan managed -services center.
• GOVERNMENT: To reduce its growing deficit, the U.S. Postal
Service will move mail processing from Duluth, Rochester, La Crosse
and Eau Claire to its Eagan facility. Approximately 200 postal jobs will
be transferred to Eagan. ■