Beyond the Skyline

In this week’s episode, F&C reporter J.D. Duggan talks to Greg Handberg, senior vice president of properties at Minneapolis-based Artspace, a nonprofit organization that does real estate development to create and restore places where artists can affordably live and work. Handberg talks about navigating redevelopment on historic properties, garnering funds to make affordable housing work and how so...

In this week’s episode, F&C reporter Brian Johnson talks to Katie King, a senior project manager with Adolfson & Peterson. King, who has 24 years of experience in the construction industry, has overseen a wide range of projects from health care facilities to a school currently under construction in Oakdale. In this interview, King talks about how she became interested in construction, her work wit...

On this week’s episode, F&C reporter J.D. Duggan talks to Libby Murphy, director of policy at Minnesota Housing Partnership, a nonprofit that has spent 30 years advocating for solutions to develop and preserve affordable housing. In this conversation, Murphy discusses the projected $9.3 billion state budget surplus, bills that have been introduced in the Legislature so far and paths out of the aff...

In this week’s episode, Finance & Commerce reporter Brian Johnson talks to Margaret Donahoe, executive director of the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, a St. Paul-based coalition of contractors, engineers, local governments and others united in their desire for transportation investments. With the legislative session underway, much is at stake. Most notably, Gov. Tim Walz’s $2.7 billion state bo...

Wafa Elkhalifa has been announced as the new equitable development coordinator for the Destination Medical Center in Rochester. She has spent more than a decade in the banking industry in the city and plans to draw on those connections and skills for the new role. Elkhalifa has also been an advocate for Rochester’s Diversity Council and a diversity and inclusion specialist with the local school di...

Denise Mazone blazed a new trail for people of color in January when she was installed as 2022 president of the Minneapolis Area Realtors. Mazone, owner and operator of Mazone Real Estate in Minneapolis, is the first African-American to hold that leadership position. But she’s confident that other people of color will follow in her steps. In the following interview with Finance & Commerce reporter...

Interview: Brittany Faith McGaughey, COO, Minnesota Title by Finance & Commerce

As Mortenson’s director of real estate development in health care, Chantily Malibago has her finger on the pulse of the latest trends in health care design and construction. Drawing in part from a new report from Mortenson, Malibago says the pandemic has informed health care design in a number of ways. Among those is a need for more flexible spaces for distancing and touchless designs, and quality...

Bell Bank executive Tony Weick has spent a quarter of a century in the mortgage business and he doesn’t plan to leave anytime soon. A graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, Weick joined Bell in 2004. In 2013, after a stint as underwriting manager, he was named executive leader of Bell Bank Mortgage. Weick has twice been named to the “Minnesota 500” list of the state’s top business l...

Twin Cities commercial real estate veteran Matt Alexander is taking on new challenges with a new job at the start of the new year. Alexander recently joined Wayzata-based North Shore Development Partners and its affiliate, North Shore Contractors, as principal. Established in 2014, North Shore develops affordable and market-rate housing and mixed-use real estate in the metro area. In his new role,...

Eric Anthony Johnson is a native of New Orleans and has worked and studied throughout the country, but the new president of Minneapolis-based affordable housing developer Aeon is no stranger to Minnesota. Johnson, who starts his job as president and CEO of Aeon on Feb. 8, earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Minnesota State University-Mankato in 1996 and later embarked on a career...

When cities consider requests for tax increment financing or school districts seek help with bond referendums, people like Greg Crowe at Roseville-based Ehlers are oftentimes crunching the relevant numbers behind the scenes. Ehlers, a provider of public finance services for 1,500 clients in five states, recently promoted Crowe to president. An Ehlers employee since 2012, Crowe previously worked as...

After a four-year stint in the U.S. Marines, Justin Rost struggled to make the transition to civilian life. Rost, an infantry rifleman who was deployed in 13 countries, tried his hand at real estate and other careers in his post-military life. Nothing seemed to fit. “When I got back, it took me a long time to be comfortable walking around a mall or moving through my day without my regiment,” he sa...

The past few weeks have been momentous for Margaret Anderson Kelliher and the state department she oversees. In early November, the Minnesota Department of Transportation officially wrapped up its 2021 construction season, which advanced or completed more than 260 projects, including the mammoth $239 million, four-year overhaul of Interstate 35W south of downtown Minneapolis. More recently, the fe...

After roughly 20 years of working in commercial real estate, Andrew Babula recently made the transition to academia – specifically, as director of the real estate program at the University of St. Thomas. Babula, who started his new job in September, has worked in commercial leasing and development, strategy and brokerage. He fills a position left vacant by the death of Herb Tousley, who directed t...

Having launched just this year, A2 Art Storage and Services is M.E. Kirwan’s response to an underserved self-storage market. A2 is a museum-grade art storage facility for objects of nearly any size, shape, medium or value. Kirwan, who is A2’s founder and president, has extensive experience in the self-storage industry. Her father founded Acorn Mini Storage in the mid-1980s, which her husband now r...

Big leadership changes are coming at Ryan Cos. US Inc. On the heels of a busy construction season, Ryan recently announced that company President Jeff Smith is retiring, and that several of its longtime leaders will transition into new roles starting in 2022. Among those with new duties is Mike Ryan, who was promoted to preside over the construction and development company’s Northern Division and...

In this episode, reporter Brian Johnson speaks with the 2021 Finance & Commerce Top Women in Construction winner Joelynne Hanson. After decades of working in the construction industry, Hanson left her daytime job to launch her own custom crushing company in 2008 — right at the start of the Great Recession. It wasn’t the best timing, perhaps, but the gamble paid off. HanSon Custom Crushing, based i...

Interview: Zachary Karabell, bestselling financial author In this special episode, Finance & Commerce editor Joel Schettler speaks with historian, former financial services executive and bestselling author Zachary Karabell about his latest book, Inside Money: Brown Brothers Harriman and the American Way of Power. As business and politicians consider the future of capitalism and its role in democra...

Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson P.A. is celebrating its 40-year anniversary this month. During its four decades of work, the Minneapolis-based law firm has successfully represented clients in cases and advocated for legislation related to the state’s construction industry. Looking ahead to its next 40 years, the firm plans to continue shaping the real estate and construction industry through its...

UCare recently announced that Joy Marsh would serve as its first associate vice president of equity and inclusion. Marsh is filling a new role at UCare, one that meets employee feedback regarding increasing accountability and leadership in the health plan company’s diversity, equity and inclusion work. Her responsibilities and goals reflect this, including those to advance health and racial equity...

As a business and a builder, Ironmark Building Co. has strong ties to Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood. The company, which specializes in urban infill work and other project types, is based at 1710 W. Lake St. in the heart of an Uptown neighborhood that has seen its share of turmoil in recent months. Violent crime and civil unrest have prompted some Uptown businesses to pull up their stakes in the...

As the new CEO of New Market Bank, Anita Drentlaw is carrying on a family tradition that started with her great-grandfather more than 100 years ago. Drentlaw, the bank’s president since 2014, took on the additional title of CEO in August. Under her watch as president, the bank reached $170 million in deposits for the first time. Drentlaw took over the CEO duties from her father, Bob Vogel, who con...

Last week, the Expanding Black Business Credit (EBBC) announced the launch of its Black Vision Fund, with a goal of reducing the nation’s racial wealth gap. The Black Vision Fund will direct long-term funds to seven Black-led and focused Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), including Minneapolis-based Metropolitan Economic Development Association. The fund’s other CDFI partners in...

As the founder of the newly formed Minnesota Tribal Contractors Council, James Jones is an outspoken advocate for Native American contractors and tribally owned businesses in the construction trades. The nonprofit council, based in northern Minnesota, held its inaugural meeting in May. It offers networking opportunities, mentorship, job and safety training, transportation services, financial educa...