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Looks like things are warming up a bit at the TJ Maxx Plaza in southwest Rochester.
A Tanworld sign went up Thursday over the storefront last occupied by Creative Custom Floral.
It is also beside the space O&B Shoes is developing for its second Rochester store.
I should have more tanning details soon.
Mike Nassif is bringing a new dimension to Rochester.
Nassif, who is known as the owner of the Entertainment To Go music service, recently opened 4th Dimension Graphics & Signs at 3600 South U.S. 63. His business, which moved into the former Magnum Graphix space, shares the building with the Coyote Creek Gun shop.
What can people expect the 4th Dimension to print and create?
“Anything that will get your name out there,” says Nassif. That means items including business cards, logos, menus, catalogs, banners, lighted signs and promotional items.
“We’re hoping to get into embroidery and Web sites also soon,” he said.
Nassif started with the graphics shop with Patrick Elmore as a minority partner.
He has three on staff and is planning on hiring a fourth employee soon.
Tequila Tasting tonight, Friday Sept. 18, at the Austin Elks Club.
We will be starting at 5 p.m. and tasting until 8 or 9 p.m. Chips and salsa provided. Cost $5 per person. We will be sampling the Reposado, Anejo and Blanco from 3 great producers including Herradura, El Jimador and Don Eduardo.
We will also have a few Mexican beers to sample tonight. This is an informal tasting, on a come-and-go basis.
A Rochester advertising and marketing company — mark it! advertising is packing up its gear and moving downtown.
Owner Nickie Froiland is moving her crew of nine staffers to 320 S. Broadway, next to the Edward Jones office around “Novemberish.”
“We wanted to find a spot to give us more exposure,” she says. “Downtown has increased so much in its vibrancy and its traffic in the last few months and we want to be a part of that.”
When mark it! moves from its current, somewhat secluded spot at 6301 Bandel Road, Froiland is planning on changing the business name “to better express who we are.”
Don't forget to network this afternoon/evening in downtown Rochester. The chamber minions were out working hard this morning already on this bash, so expect something special.
And I hear from Brian Olson, the chamber's communication savant, that there 80+ booths lined up for the Extra!, that’s 30+ more than last year.
Please show up and hob as well as nob. And please chat… a lot.
With two columns a week now, I need plenty of material for "Heard on the Street."
So since I prefer to not get too dirty or get up too early, it is up to the general population of Rochester to do my job.
If you know anything interesting, corner me and share it tonight. I have another column coming up, you know.
Business After Hours EXTRA!, a once-a-year mega-networking event for local businesses hosted by the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Rochester in the University Square shopping center, 111 S. Broadway.
Here's the follow-up to the note about coming layoffs. Byron is the community hit this time:
Despite growth in direct mail advertising packets that spurred a $5 million equipment investment and the hiring of 30 new people in the fall, that growth did not make up for the losses in other areas, according to company officials.
“As a result of the decline in market conditions in 2008 and the unpredictability of the market in 2009, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce and realign our operations in order to remain competitive and position ourselves for long-term success,” wrote Schmidt President Joe Ferguson in an announcement Tuesday.In October, the Byron facility had more than 350 people on staff.
Employees were notified of the layoffs Monday and Tuesday morning. The company says it is offering severance packages and job search assistance for the 35 people who lost their jobs.
“This decision was very difficult and not taken lightly nor made in haste,” wrote Ferguson. “We feel it is the necessary and responsible way for us to best support the opportunity and security for Schmidt overall.”
Schmidt is a web-offset printer that provides print and related services for magazine, catalog, newspaper and directory publishers as well as direct marketers. It is owned by North Mankato-based Taylor Corp., one of the largest printing and marketing conglomerates in the U.S.
The 24 hours a day plant ships products as far away as Europe.
For the record, this blog has been digital since day one almost fours year ago. We were that far ahead of the curve. Heh.
Some area TV viewers may be having trouble with their TV remotes, but they certainly know how to use their telephones.
“Hundreds, hundred and hundreds of phone calls” rolled in to KTTC-TV and KXLT-Fox 47 in Rochester Tuesday, says Jerry Watson, vice-president and general manager of KTTC and KXLT.
The two Rochester stations transitioned to broadcasting only in digital Tuesday, and then the wave of calls to the station started.
The primary question repeated over and over was “how do I scan my TV to re-set my channels,” said KTTC Station Manager Liz Dahlen this morning. The Federal Communication Commission even sent a representative to Rochester to help field the calls.
And many people needed help in setting up their converter boxes to still be able to pick up stations via antenna over the air.
“Many people waited until the last minute — and they had them already — waited until the last minute to hook up their converter box,” says Watson.
The estimate is that about 30 percent of each market watches analog signals via antenna. This federally-manadated switch is costing stations an average of $3.2 million, says Watson, without bringing in any additional revenue.
“Once we get them (former analog viewers) going, they are thrilled with the picture quality and with the almost triple the number of stations they can now pick up,” he said.
Here's some about Mayo Clinic and Cardio3, a Beligum biotech company. This is an interesting project and Cardio3 is one of the few biotech company's that is landing big VC dollars these days. Heart disease patients in Britain could soon take part in a revolutionary stem cell surgery trial that could change the nature of heart surgery and ultimately end the need for transplants. It is believed that British patents could take the pioneering treatment, in which a patient's own cells are extracted and grown in a laboratory, in as little as a year. Laboratory grown heart stem cells were initially extensively tested on animals and trials on humans in Europe are due to start later this month. The most recent process was developed at the Mayo Clinic research centre in Minnesota. The bone marrow is then grown in a laboratory into human heart stem cells using a special 'growth factor' protein. The growth factor delivers a chemical signal to the stem cells to turn them from bone marrow cells into heart cells. These cells are then infused into the patient's heart via a catheter in the groin and an improvement in a patient's condition is expected within a couple of weeks. Dr Christian Homsy of Cardio3 Biosciences - the company which is developing human heart stem cells - said: "Human heart stem cells repaired damaged areas of mice hearts in our trials. And we are convinced that we can do the same in humans. "It is a very straightforward procedure and we would expect to see a patient's health to change quite rapidly over a period of several weeks to a couple of months. In the mouse trials it was quite quick but in humans we don't know yet."Anyway, here's some from a story in the Daily Telegraph in London:
Scientists have worked out a technique where human bone marrow cells are turned into human heart stem cells and then injected into the heart.
As part of the planned human trials, 40 millilitres of bone marrow will be taken from a volunteer's hips.
Here's some from my piece on Stewartville's favorite high-end office furniture maker, following up the recent re-acquistion by its CEO and founder.
Every year a Stewartville company rolls out lines of high-end designs to try to attract fickle, changing tastes.
So what’s hot this year?
Quartered walnut.
It is high quality office furniture at the lop level of that industry that Halcon Corp. ships out across the U.S. and internationally each year
While talk of new lines with eye-catching designs sounds like models in dresses on runways instead of wood desks and cabinets, Halcon managers say that is a pretty close comparison
“Furniture really is a lot like the fashion industry,” says Peter Fuchsel, vice president of operations for Halcon, as he stands by huge rolls of sandpaper and stacks of dark and light wood.
While the 150 employee company will roll out its latest designs as usual in June, one change this year is a return to the company’s roots.
Founder and CEO Peter Conway bought Halcon back in December. Conway launched the company in 1977 and then sold it to large international furniture maker Teknion in 1999. Conway stayed on as CEO. As Teknion moved from being a public company to a private one, Conway started thinking about re-acquiring the company he started.
Now that he has control of a “multi-million company” during a recession, does Conway have any regrets?
“”No regrets,” he says with a chuckle. “I knew what I was getting into.”
He has hopes that “with some breaks,” Halcon could start out 2009 strong.
However, “We anticipate this year will not be one of our most robust. I’m looking long-term,” he said.
While he values Halcon’s 150 employees, many who have worked there for many years, it was one employee that influenced his decision to buy the company back.
His son, Ben Conway, is an executive vice president. After a stint with the company in college, the younger Conway returned to Stewartville to raise a family and become a part of the family company.
“Ben was a significant factor,” acknowledges Peter.
The Conways value the concept of a family-run business. Anthony and Phillip Conway, two of Peter’s brothers, founded and run Rochester Medical. Also based in Stewartville, it is an international manufacturer of catheters. Christopher, another brother, founded his own medical company in the Twin Cities.
Walking around its manufacturing floor, it is obvious that Halcon’s furniture is not the cookie-cutter type found at any office supply store.
It is made on special contract from hand-picked logs of the highest quality woods available like teak from Africa and beech from Europe.
“About 90 percent of our pieces have some customization and about 40 percent are totally custom work,” says Ben Conway.
When a desk or cabinet is being made, logs are selected to create the veneer and no bits or pieces from logs will be used. This creates consistency in the look of the piece, he explains.
I've been slow on this one. I'll use the holidays as an excuse…and that's good until March, right?
Anyway, EnteroMedics Inc. signed a deal with Mayo Clinic back in 2005 to work together to develop a weight control device and to license some of Mayo Clinic's patents.
The resulting device – the Maestro System – has been picking up some speed lately with positive studies. On Friday, the ST. Paul medical device maker got a jolt of cash caffeine – $20 million worth – to further push things along.
Here's some from a press release and the latest SEC filing about this:
EnteroMedics Inc., the developer of medical devices using neuroblocking technology to treat obesity and other gastrointestinal disorders, today announced that the Company has closed a new $20 million working capital loan, replacing its existing debt agreement. Silicon Valley Bank, Western Technology Investment and Horizon Technology Management LLC are providing the financing.
Proceeds from the loan will supplement the Company’s $28.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of September 30, 2008, and will be used to repay the existing balance of the Company’s working capital loan, to fund clinical studies and for general corporate needs. The loan requires interest only payments until June 2009, followed by principal and interest payments amortized over the next 30 months.
The loan agreement is part of EnteroMedics’ long-range capital plan, including additional cash financing in 2009, which allows the Company to reach its projected Food and Drug Administration approval date for use of the Maestro System™ in obesity, following positive data from the EMPOWER pivotal trial.
“This financing, which comes at a time of unprecedented market uncertainty, is a meaningful vote of confidence in the Company and its technology from three highly regarded venture lending companies," said President and CEO Mark B. Knudson, Ph.D.
“These steps to add capital allow us to fund operations well into 2010, a period of significant consequence which includes pivotal data from the EMPOWER study in obesity as well as additional data in diabetes and hypertension, and reduce our dependence on the volatile capital markets over the next 12 to 18 months.”
Here some form the SEC filing:
On November 18, 2008, EnteroMedics Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a new Loan and Security Agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with,Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”), Western Technology Investment (“WTI”) and Horizon Technology Management LLC (“Horizon” and,ncollectively with SVB and WTI, the “Lenders”), pursuant to which the Lenders agreed to make term loans (each, a “Term Loan”) to the Company in an aggregate principal amount of up to $20.0 million, on the terms and conditions set forth in the Loan Agreement. On November 21, 2008, SVB and WTI each funded a Term Loan in the aggregate principal amount of $10.0 million and $5.0 million, respectively, under the Loan Agreement. The additional $5.0 million Term Loan available under the Loan Agreement is to be funded by Horizon on or before June 30, 2009 at such time as the trading price of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market meets or exceeds a target amount specified in the Loan Agreement.
The Company will make monthly interest-only payments on the Term Loans during a period beginning on the Term Loan funding date and continuing through June 30, 2009, followed thereafter by equal monthly payments of principal and interest over the remaining term of the Term Loan. Amounts borrowed under the Loan Agreement bear interest per annum at a rate equal to 12.0% during the period of interest-only payments, and thereafter, at a rate of 11.0% per annum for the remainder of the term. The Loan Agreement will terminate and all outstanding Term Loans must be repaid no later than December 1, 2011 (the “Maturity Date”). On the Maturity Date, the Company will also make a final payment in an aggregate amount equal to 5% of the Term Loans funded by the Lenders (the “Final Payment Fee”).
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