Beyond the Skyline

This special episode of Beyond the Skyline features a panel discussion on child care. Across Minnesota, child care is in crisis. Panelists look at the latest national and state data, and take part in a free-flowing conversation about the challenges the industry faces and the solutions being implemented to address this critical issue. Topics discussed include the short- and long-term future of the...

Senior housing has been a priority for Oppidan Investment Co. for several years, but recent demographic trends are encouraging the company to expand its investment in this type of housing even further. Joe Ryan, the company’s CEO and founder, said their increased interest in senior housing projects is due to the nation’s aging population as well as the “great” business opportunity that comes with...

After a slow start to the year, Minneapolis-based Sons of Norway has seen a spike in sales of life insurance products amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris Pinkerton, the fraternal benefit organization’s new CEO, says the timing isn’t coincidental. “Life insurance is not something that the typical consumer is just rushing out to buy,” Pinkerton said. “But when there is an occurrence that makes you thi...

Aleesha Webb got her first taste of the finance business at a young age when she worked as a teller for Village Bank, a financial institution founded in the 1990s by Webb’s father, Donald Kveton. She proved to be a quick study. After earning her MBA at the University of St. Thomas, Webb went on to hold leadership positions at Minnesota Bank and Trust and Sunrise Bank. Two years ago, she returned t...

Longtime MSR Design Principal Jack Poling didn’t plan to pursue a career in architecture until well into his college career, when a guidance counselor suggested it might be a good fit. The counselor was onto something. Now, after a decadeslong career in architecture, including 16 years as managing director at MSR, Poling is calling it a career. A native of Texas, Poling graduated from Texas A&M Un...

As Baker Tilly’s newest partner, Russ Fleming brings nearly three decades of experience to the Minneapolis-based accounting services firm and its construction and real estate clients. Fleming heads up Baker Tilly’s construction and real estate group. He rejoined Baker Tilly two years ago after a six-year run in a similar role with the company’s Detroit office. Among other duties, Fleming works wit...

During his four-decade run with St. Louis Park-based Knutson Construction, Dave Bastyr has put his building and management skills to use on notable projects ranging from stadiums and hotels to hospitals and schools. Bastyr, the company’s executive vice president, kicked off his Knutson career in the early 1980s by working as a land surveyor on the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome project in downtown M...

To a big extent, Lisa Clarke has been the name and face of the Destination Medical Center initiative in Rochester. Now getting ready for retirement, Clarke has served as executive director of the DMC Economic Development Agency since 2014. The nonprofit agency works with the city of Rochester and others to develop and implement DMC’s mission: a 20-year, $5.6 billion development initiative designed...

Less than a month into his new job as president of Rogers-based Veit Cos., Tim Reimann has hit the ground running with an agenda that includes growing a specialty contracting business and maintaining safe work practices during a pandemic. Reimann has 25 years of business leadership experience, most recently as vice president of operations at McGough Construction in Roseville. His resume includes a...

Gary Kirt bought his first home when he was still in high school, an investment that launched what would become a 50-plus year career in mortgage banking. After stints with Conservative Mortgage and Midwest Federal, Kirt purchased Minneapolis-based Bell Mortgage (then known as the David C. Bell Investment Co.) in 1980. He’s credited with growing the 100-year-old business into the largest privately...

In the aftermath of the civil unrest following the death of George Floyd, Minnesota’s insurance industry has found itself in the spotlight. Amid the Floyd protests, looters torched, damaged and destroyed hundreds of Twin Cities businesses. When the smoke cleared, perhaps one of the first calls business owners made was to their insurance agents — a first step toward rebuilding. Insurance will cover...

As the new executive director of the Urban Land Institute of Minnesota, Stephanie Brown assumes a leadership role with an organization dedicated to creating, among other things, “sustaining and thriving communities.” That’s a big job in any era, let alone at a time when Minnesotans are dealing with a global pandemic and struggling with issues of social injustice. Brown is also filling some big sho...

For more than 50 years, the Economic Development Association of Minnesota has been a go-to source of information and best practices for professionals involved in economic growth throughout the state. The association, founded in 1967 as the Minnesota Industrial Development Association, aims to keep its members abreast of the latest development strategies with an eye toward “collaboration and innova...

As project director for Minneapolis-based Prosperity’s Front Door, Judy Johnson is part of an organization that sees housing through the lens of social justice, economic stability and community. The organization — a network of business, community, government and nonprofit leaders — promotes affordable and workforce housing and supports people who face homelessness, evictions and foreclosure, among...

Dyan Ebert has had a strong interest in the law since her middle school days, when she interviewed a local attorney about the legal profession and then penned a paper about her desire to be a lawyer. That career interest led to a degree at William Mitchell College of Law, a leadership position at Quinlivan & Hughes law firm in St. Cloud, and — as of July — a turn as president of the Minnesota Stat...

This special episode of Beyond the Skyline features an Experts Forum on affordable housing. Housing instability and homelessness across Minnesota are being exacerbated by the converging crises of COVID-19 and persistent racial injustice, presenting a serious blow to our social and economic stability. Our panelists discussed how Minnesota’s long-term prosperity and economic competitive edge hinges...

As a building and planning firm that specializes in school development, design and construction, Minneapolis-based ICS has plenty of work opportunities these days. In recent months, the firm has advised school districts in Minnesota and beyond on how to prepare for the 2020-21 school year in the age of COVID-19. Goals include adapting buildings with proper ventilation, space management, and techno...

This special episode of Beyond the Skyline, features an Experts Forum on how to make solar energy work for commercial property. Solar energy: We’ve been hearing about it for decades, but sometimes it still seems like a fringe option, or else one of an array of renewable energy solutions. Finance & Commerce recently brought together (virtually, via Zoom) a group of local leaders in the solar busine...

Carter Nielsen’s dreams of competing as a wrestler in the 2020 Olympics suffered a massive takedown when the pandemic forced cancellation of the games. But the Minnesotan has since picked himself off the mat with help from another passion: real estate. Training for the Olympics is a full-time occupation, so when the pandemic struck Nielsen needed a Plan B — and a job. At a time when other employer...

The COVID-19 crisis was just heating up in April when LS Black Development was officially launched. Bad timing? Not necessarily, say founders Michael Hudson and William Boulay. LS Black Development, the development arm of St. Paul-based LS Black Constructors, has a strong focus on affordable housing — and the need for those homes isn’t going away. “Once [LS Black Constructors] had kind of that con...

Minnesota Statewide Limited Energy JATC, a nonprofit program that trains men and women to work in the burgeoning low-voltage energy industry, hardly missed a beat after the COVID-19 crisis brought much of the economy to its knees. The program has its main facility in Fridley, but it trains workers across the state. When the state closed schools in response to the crisis, Limited Energy quickly ada...

From perusing old-fashioned blueprints to dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, Mortenson Construction’s Rich Bistodeau has pretty much done it all on a construction site. Now, after nearly 50 years with the company, he’s calling it a career. Bistodeau joined Mortenson in 1972 as a carpenter apprentice and rose through the ranks to become a superintendent. During that time, he worked on projects that...

As managing principal of Leo A Daly’s Minneapolis office, Cindy McCleary has seen the impact of a bonding bill and what it means for the industry and the state as a whole. Leo A Daly’s project portfolio includes the Fort Snelling Visitor Center, the Second Harvest Heartland headquarters, and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s facility. All were paid for with help from previous state bonding bi...

University of Minnesota professor and leading workplace expert Theresa Glomb has some advice for people working from home – and their employers -- amid the COVID-19 crisis. “I love the phrase, ‘Don't waste a crisis,’” says Glomb, a professor in the Carlson School of Management’s Department of Work and Organizations. “And I think this is very true here because we have an opportunity to really chang...

Dagmara Larsen brings a global perspective to the local design community, where she has made a name for herself as a mentor and a designer of award-winning libraries and other projects. Larsen earned her architecture degree in her native country of Poland. From there, she gained international experience before coming to the U.S. and landing a job with MSR Design in Minneapolis. She was promoted to...