Kiger's Notebook

Another nibble of Chuck E. Cheese news

When a plan to open a Chuck E. Cheese pizza place in the empty Cost Plus World Market store was submitted to the City of Rochester, I wrote to Irving, Texas-based CEC Entertainment asking for details.

Here’s some of what CEC’s Brenda Holloway sent back:

• “We do not yet have a timeline and will not make one until we officially get comments back on the permit application.”

 • "This will be a corporate owned location and number of employees will not be determined until we complete the permit process."

• “Rochester is a very viable location for us since it is very family oriented and therefore has a direct need for our product.”

• "Despite a very difficult economic environment and H1N1, we believe that our sales have held up reasonably well, and we believe this is a direct result of the strength of our concept and the result of our sales building initiatives."

Biotech, RAEDI, Burrill, Elk Run and raising money

I've already reported here on the blog that G. Steven Burrill, national biotech guru, will speak at the upcoming RAEDI meeting.

Here's some from the Biz buzz in today's print column that covers some about Burrill's efforts to raise $1 billion for the proposed massive Elk Run community by Pine Island.

At the Rochester Area Economic Development’s past several annual meetings, biobusiness was the hot topic.

And it will be again at the next meeting on Feb. 12.

G. Steven Burrill, one of the top biotechnology evangelists in the U.S. and a backer of the proposed Elk Run biobusiness park by Pine Island, is headlining the meeting.

In May, Burrill joined forces with Tower Investment, Elk Run’s developer. He pledged to raise $1 billion in funding.

Last week, the medical and bioscience Web site, Medcity News, reported that Burrill in not making progress on his goal.“… Sources say he’s nowhere near $1 billion. Depending on whom you ask, Burrill has secured anywhere from zero dollars to $250 million,” wrote Thomas Lee, former Star Tribune reporter now working for Medcity News.

Lee went on to write that he doubts Burrill will be able to raise that much.

“But in some ways, the amount of money is beside the point. Where it comes from matters far more. To build local support for such an audacious project, Burrill needs local money. Good luck with that one.”

Maybe Burrill will able to say just how much he has raised at the RAEDI meeting.

Rochester man in WSJ about people going rural

The Wall Street Journal just did a piece about people leaving cities and suburbia for a more rural, sustainable setting.They coined the phrase "ruralpolitan" to describe that.
While it is an interesting - an possibly short-term - trend, I point this out because a guy from Rochester who recently set up a place in Montana was quoted.I guess we are becoming too much of "a big city" for some folks.

 But other factors, such as widespread Internet access, are giving this current ruralpolitan trend new longevity, particularly among younger generations. Enhanced renewable-energy options and associated tax credits mean homes can be more affordably powered by the sun or wind in areas where utility companies won’t service cheaply.

Younger buyers, such as Jesse Ptacek, 27, have time to reap payback from such investments. For the past few years, Mr. Ptacek has watched the U.S. economy flounder from Kuwait, where he’s a firefighter for a U.S. Department of Defense contractor. Knowing he will likely face bleak job prospects upon his return home in January, he recently bought 62 acres of land in Montana.

His new spread, for which he paid $225,000, includes a 2,100-square-foot, three-bedroom log home situated well off the grid. Its main heat source is a wood stove, there’s bear, moose and pheasant hunting nearby, and Mr. Ptacek is erecting solar panels for electricity. He expects to commute up to 60 miles for work, likely in Great Falls or Helena.

“I’ve done the stock-market thing, and I lost money like everyone else,” says the unmarried Mr. Ptacek, who grew up in Rochester, Minn., population 100,845. “And I started to think about things, what’s real, what’s not real.”

What's cooking for 2010?

What's next?

That's always an interesting question. When I looked back to 2009 in my last column, I wrote this "…We march the final steps of this year, to wander into the white landscape of an as-of-yet unspoiled calendar year…"

So here's my questions to everyone out there – what do you expect to happen, what do you fear will happen and what do you hope will happen in southeastern Minnesota's business community in 2010?

By the way, this photo shows that maybe Mayo Clinic does have a bit of a sense of humor.

I guess the message is "Happy New Year! It is almost 2010. Party until your guts fall out!"

Martell BioSciences + $100,000 = Rochester lease

I've reported on this before, but here is another take on Martell BioSciences and the Minnesota BioBusiness Center in downtown Rochester.

It boils down to a company with a new way to test for breast and other types of cancer needs funding before it can finalize a deal to move to Rochester.

I believe RAEDI and the city have already set them up with some funding, but the company still needs $100,000 before it can sign up.

This piece by Ben Butkus of GenomeWeb News covers this with a little more detail.

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Early-stage in vitro diagnostics company Martell Biosystems is seeking approximately $3 million in venture capital to help set up shop near the Mayo Clinic in downtown Rochester, Minn., to develop a non-invasive, DNA amplification-based blood test to diagnose breast and other types of cancer, according to a company official.

Martell also needs the funding to finalize a licensing agreement for the core technology with the University of Pennsylvania, where it was developed, Martell President and COO Phil Messina told GWDN recently.

Thus far Martell has received nearly $500,000 in funding from local angel investors and through grants and loans from the state of Minnesota and city of Rochester, and is looking to tack on about $100,000 more to complete its first financing round, Messina said.

That would allow the company to finalize a lease on approximately 4,500 square feet of space within the Minnesota BioBusiness Center, an eight-story, 124,000-square-foot facility located adjacent to the Mayo Clinic and housing the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research as its anchor tenant.

Martell hopes to move into the space in the spring, and turn it into R&D labs, office space, and eventually a CLIA-certified reference lab, Martell said.

"We've been working on this with the city of Rochester for about the last nine months," he said. "We received some nice incentives to move there, and of course the Mayo Clinic is a big draw for us because we need a large pool of talent nearby."

And although Martell has no formal relationship with the Mayo Clinic as yet, the company has begun discussions with various researchers within the clinic's Cancer Center about how it can play a role in helping Martell develop its FACTT-based diagnostic tests.

UPenn owns one published patent and several patent applications surrounding FACTT, to which Martell will own the rights once it brings in additional venture capital funding.

Church + salon to help youth escape gang violence

A small northwest Rochester church is planning to go into the hair business, but it is about more than styling.

Andre Crockett, pastor of the Prince of Peace Church in the 19th Street Business Park, is changing a classroom into a barber shop called Vision Cuts. He hopes to open the full-service shop that will specialize in hair cuts and treatments for African Americans by February.

While he will have professionals working in the barber shop, it will be more than just a business.

“I want it to be a training center for young people trying to earn their licenses as barbers or stylists,” Crockett said.

He works closely with area young people, particularly those trying to escape gang violence, through the nonprofit Sports Mentorship Academy. That’s where Crockett learned many young people in the area want training for a career, but have trouble finding vocational opportunities in Rochester.

Since Crockett knows many people with an interest in hair styling and knows there are few Rochester shops that cut African Americans’ hair, he thought this plan would help with both issues.

His church has about 100 members.

Maid-Rite Diner to start cooking in Roch.?

Coming to Mayo Clinic for annual exams, Bradley Burt has grown to really like Rochester.

 While that is not unusual, this Des Moines, Iowa, corporate CEO now wants to see a franchise from his company in Rochester.

That’s means the Med City could get a Maid in 2010 … a Maid-Rite Diner, that is.

“Every time I go there (Rochester), I drool,” said Burt earlier this week. “We are aggressively looking to have a Maid-Rite there.”

For those not familiar with the iconic chain founded in 1926, Maid-Rite is known for its ground beef “loose meat” sandwiches. That means patty-less hamburgers or sloppy joes without the sloppy.

Served up in a classic-style diner setting, the sandwiches share the menu with malts, tenderloins and other diner specialties.

While no franchisees have been lined up yet, Burt is  confident one will be cooking in the near future.

It is an eatery that does well in tough economic times because the average meal ticket is $6.95, he said.

It costs between $250,000 to $300,000 to open a Maid-Rite with an average of 1,500-square-feet of space. The company encourages its franchisees to lease space rather than build.

If Burt gets his wish for a Med City Maid-Rite, it would be the sixth Maid in Minnesota and one of about 80 in the chain.

By the way, the diner with a similar theme and name — the Tender Maid in Austin — is a competitor of the Maid-Rite family.

Allegiant Air pulling out of Roch.

After about two and half years of flying directly to Las Vegas from Rochester twice a week, Allegiant Air has decided its bet never paid off.

“Unfortunately, due to lack of market demand, we will end our service from Rochester,” stated Allegiant Air CEO and President Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr. in an announcement this afternoon.

Allegiant plans to end its Monday and Friday nonstop flights from the Rochester International Airport to Las Vegas on Feb. 15.

Anyone with reservations beyond that date will be contacted by Allegiant Air for “reaccomodation.”

During 2008, 27,854 passengers flew out of Rochester on Allegiant.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” said Rochester International Airport Manager Steve Leqve. “It is really unfortunate. I was hoping they would do well in this market.

Roch. Chamber prez John Wade to run for congress?

I'm letting Heather Carlson do all the work today. Guess I'm getting fat and lazy going into the holiday.

Here's a great piece by her that says Rochester Chamber of Commerce John Wade is mulling a run against Tim Walz for the Minnesota's 1st District seat in the U.S. House.

While Wade, 47, who has led the chamber since 2002, won’t say whether he is considering running, he did say in an interview last week that “I am not ruling anything out.”

He added, “I have a number of people that ask on a regular basis or encourage me to do so, and I am honored and humbled by those suggestions. Right now I am focusing on what I do, and that is focusing on building jobs in this community.”

But area Republicans say that Wade is seriously considering a bid for the seat, which is held by second-term Mankato Democrat Tim Walz. Bruce Kaskubar, co-chairman of the Republican Party of Olmsted County, said Wade announced at a Christmas dinner party a few weeks ago that he was thinking about running.

For more on this, go to this post @ Post-Bulletin.Com.

New salon in Byron

Hair stylist Becky Packer opened the doors of her new salon – Double Take – in Byron on Dec. 1.

Packer opened a three chair salon, west of Schmidt Printing in Byron.

She's offering a full selection of hair services - cuts, coloring, waxing and whatnot.

So why open a new salon?

"I've always wanted to have my own salon. We came across a great location and away we went."