Minneapolis, MN

Business People: Former Dayton spokeswoman Laura Cederberg to head Weber Shandwick’s Minneapolis office

Published

2 years ago

February 18, 2024

Press Room

OF NOTE

Laura Cederberg

National PR firm Weber Shandwick announced the promotion of Laura Cederberg to Minneapolis market leader. Cederberg most recently was a senior vice president on the firm’s corporate and public affairs team and before that served as a spokesperson for former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and former Lt. Gov. Tina Smith.

ADVERTISING/PUBLIC RELATIONS

Minneapolis-based ad agencies Preston Spire and Carmichael Lynch were named to Ad Age’s Best Places to Work 2024 list.

ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERING

HGA, Minneapolis, announced the appointment of Mia Blanchett as chief executive officer, succeeding Tim Carl; Blanchett has been with the firm since 1989.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union, St. Paul, announced the opening of a branch at 1460 S. 12th Ave West, Virginia, Minn. … Bell Bank, Fargo, N.D., announced that Jenny Senecal has been named executive vice president/chief credit officer, based at Bell Plaza in Bloomington and in Fargo. Senecal has been a member of the executive leadership team since 2022. … First Interstate Bank announced that Tim Schmidt was promoted to director of Treasury Solutions, based in the Twin Cities; Schmidt is a board member on the St. Paul District Council and member of St. Paul’s annual Capital Improvement Budget Task Force. … BGM, a Bloomington CPA, advisory and financial firm, announced that Nathan Panning has been promoted to lead the Tax Group. Panning has been with the firm since 2007 and was promoted to principal in 2021.

GOVERNMENT

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has named Jeanna Fortney as its next CareerForce director in the agency’s Workforce Development Division. Fortney previously was executive director of the Minnesota Association of Workforce Development Board. … The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced the hiring of Brian Walsh to lead a new Worker Protection Unit. Walsh previously served as director of labor standards enforcement for the city of Minneapolis.

HONORS

The city of Rosemount announced Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek as its 2023 Employee of the Year. Nemcek has worked for the city since 2016; he was promoted to senior planner in 2021.

LAW

Lockridge Grindal Nauen, Minneapolis, announced the promotion of Joseph Bourne to partner; Bourne’s fields are antitrust, consumer protection and business litigation. … Moss & Barnett, Minneapolis, announced that Brian T. Grogan was re-elected and Brian J. Schoenborn was elected to three-year terms on the firm’s board of directors. … Chestnut Cambronne, Minneapolis, announced that Elizabeth (Lisa) Henry has been elected shareholder and also that she has been selected by Minnesota Lawyer as an inaugural 2023 Top Women in Law award recipient. Henry sits on the firm’s board of directors and practices primarily in trust and estate litigation and elder law.

MANUFACTURING

BioMADE, a Manufacturing Innovation Institute sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, announced the appointment of Jack Starr as its inaugural chief manufacturing officer. Starr previously held similar roles at Cargill and NatureWorks. BioMADE is based jointly in St. Paul and Emeryville, Calif. … Malco Tools, an Annandale, Minn.-based maker of professional hand tools for workers in the HVAC, construction and automotive trades, announced that Marc Kermisch, chief digital and information officer at CNH Industrial, has joined its board of directors. … Industrial Louvers and Verta, Delano, Minn.-based makers of architectural metal and metal coatings for industry, announced the retirement of CEO and President Jo Reinhardt, to be succeeded by Brett Reinhardt, now president of both companies. Reinhardt family leadership at Industrial Louvers dates back to 1971.

NONPROFITS

St. Croix Valley Habitat for Humanity, Hudson, Wis., announced new board members Lisa Lyon, Pillar Bank, and Dave Grambow, Hudson Schools; Gina Moe-Knutson, WESTconsin Realty, was named board president and Clark Schroeder, city of Lake Elmo, vice president.

RETAIL

Scooter’s Coffee, an Omaha, Neb.-based drive-thru coffee chain, announced the opening of a location in Rockford, Minn., the franchisees are Josh and Kaiyah Herscheid, and the planned summer opening of an end-cap location at the National Sports Village in Blaine, Susan and Brent Nygaard franchisees.

SPONSORSHIPS

USA Fencing announced a multiyear partnership for Bell Bank become its official bank. Fargo, N.D.-based Bell Bank is Minnesota’s seventh largest bank by deposit market share.

EMAIL ITEMS to businessnews@pioneerpress.com.

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Minneapolis, MN

GOP responds to MN fraud developments

Published

10 hours ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

Rep. Patti Anderson (R- Dellwood), who serves as Vice Chair on the House oversight committee, spoke on the recent developments about fraud in Minnesota, including accusations that GOP members were not sharing whistleblower tips with the Department of Human Services.

Posted December 21, 2025 2:45pm CST

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Minneapolis, MN

Minnesota State Patrol squad car hit on I-94 in Minneapolis, driver arrested for DWI

Published

22 hours ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A 24-year-old driver was arrested late Friday night after crashing into a Minnesota State Patrol squad car on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis.

State Patrol squad car hit

The backstory:

The Minnesota State Patrol said just before 10 p.m., a state trooper was responding to a two-vehicle crash on I-94 near Franklin Avenue. While on the scene, a Toyota Camry driver struck the unoccupied squad car from behind. The squad car had its emergency lights on at the time.

MnDOT traffic cameras captured the moment the Camry driver slammed into the back of the squad car. The impact pushed the squad car into what appeared to be a tow truck. The Camry came to rest in a neighboring lane, causing approaching traffic to veer to avoid the vehicles.

The State Patrol said a passenger in the Camry sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the crash. The driver, a 24-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of DWI.

The crash remains under investigation.

The Source: This story uses information from the Minnesota State Patrol and MnDOT traffic cameras.

Road incidentsCrime and Public SafetyMinneapolis

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Minneapolis, MN

Gather your pack for the Polar Bear Pub Crawl in downtown Minneapolis

Published

1 day ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Gather your pack for the Polar Bear Pub Crawl in downtown Minneapolis

It’s time to sip, stroll and make merry memories as you bring cheer to Minneapolis with the Polar Bear Pub Crawl.

Twelve downtown Minneapolis bars are taking part in the cool adventure with each serving up festive libations to warm your holiday spirit.

The Local on Nicollet Mall is one stop along the pub crawl ready to help you celebrate winter.

“This year we have what we’re calling The Bear Hug. Essentially we are saying it’s a warm embrace in a glass,” said general manager Brad Johnson.

The Bear Hug is bourbon, pomegranate, raspberry with Chambord, maple syrup and a little bit of lemon juice.

Participants ride the Holly Trolley to the stops, said Kitty Fahey with the Minneapolis Downtown Council.

“Kind of on or near Nicollet Mall is the primary pubs, then we also have two other spots in North Loop,” Fahey said. “We have early check-in over at Fulton and then we have an afterparty at Graves.”

The Minnesota Lottery will be on hand to give away prizes at certain locations.

“We’re also doing this really fun new thing this year, a scavenger hunt. It’s an app called Goose Chase,” she said. “So you download that and we have activities in each of these locations that you have to find.”

Participants can win theater tickets, and retail is open as pop-up shops along the pub crawl route.

Barrio is another pub using libations to warm those who take part.

“Just seeing people have fun during Christmas and the holiday season, everyone’s coming around, they’re smiling, they’re having a good time and we get to fuel some of their fire, with alcohol [laughs]!” said assistant general manager Steffani Vestal. “We are making Coco Festivo. So it is a fun twist on the piña colada with tequilla instead of rum. We use reposado tequila. It’s going to have notes of vanilla, that’s why it plays so well with the sweetness and the fun. And Coco Lopez, which is our coconut cream, and fresh-squeezed pineapple juice, a little bit of fresh-squeezed lime.”

The Polar Bear Pub Crawl is just one part of Winterapolis, according to R.T. Rybak, former Minneapolis mayor and current CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation. He says it’s all about celebrating the creativity, culture and community that makes Minneapolis shine all winter long.

“This year in Winterapolis it’s really about taking that same spirit of the ‘Bold North’ and tying together things like the light-up we had of the holiday trees, with this pub crawl, with all of the things in the Dayton’s Market, with Nordic Soundscapes down at the Orchestra, and put it all together with the kite festival and the loppet, and just tell people, ‘Hey, it’s cold. Yeah! Good! Get out there and do stuff!’”

Tickets are still available. They’re only $30 dollars per person or $100 for a group of four.

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