Best of Business 2007

By the Best of Business Entourage of Editors, Contributors, and Assorted Hangers-On

Just call us BOB. Mere purveyors of business dish for most of the year, we turn each summer to a higher calling: uncovering the best practices, best ideas, best trends, best performers, best newcomers, best developments, best rescuers, best fun, and best lore—in short, the best of business in the Twin Cities.

Who’s got the best investment strategy? We’re on it. What’s the best thing going in retail? We’ve got it covered. Best research in biofuels? Best trend in commercial real estate? Best efforts to keep the state competitive in a global economy? Got it, got it, got it.

No mission was too obscure for us. Best-managed local band? Yeah, it’s here. Best-disguised nutraceutical? Yup. Best news in beer? Yessiree BOB, we’ve reported on that, too.

You might decide to check out a few of these top operators yourself after perusing these pages. If you do, just tell them BOB sent you.

Best Business Move by the Governor

Trade Mission to India

Best Corporate Holiday Greeting

Duffy & Partners' Custom-Bottle Wine

Best Sports Franchise

The Minnesota Wild

Best-Managed Local Band

Tapes 'n Tapes

Best Literary Theory

Gatsby Came from Willmar

Best We Could Do?

10th Place for Business

Best Reasons to Brag

Our Rankings on Other "Best" Lists

Best Power Cocktail Spot

Bank

Most Kick-Ass Restaurateur

Thom Pham

Best NYSE Stock Run July 2006—June 2007

DLX: Deluxe Corporation

Best Nasdaq Stock Run July 2006—June 2007

RCCC: Rural Cellular Corporation

Best Rescue of a Minnesota-Made Film

John Stout and A Prairie Home Companion

Best News in Beer

New local brew, Summit's secondary website, and good beer—in cans.

Best Move in Manufacturing

Minnesota Wire & Cable

Best Car Product

Sea Foam

Best Auto Repair Shop

Automotive Services

Best Building Screaming to be Renovated

Minneapolis Armory

Best-Disguised Nutraceutical

Bioenergy's D-Ribose

Best Buildings Screaming to be Torn Down

East Side of Hennepin Avenue South Between 7th and 8th

Best Display of Musical Talent Outside the Entertainment Industry

The NAIOPs

Best Med-Tech Innovation

Disc Dynamics' Dascor System

Best Retail Trend

Gaviidae Common's Local Flavor

Best Do-Over

Heather McElhatton's Pretty Little Mistakes

Best Regional Fuel Company

Holiday

Best Growth Companies

Buffalo Wild Wings and Famous Dave's

Best News for Farmers

The Eat-Local Movement

Best New Restaurant in Which To Do Business

Chambers Kitchen

Best Development in Biofuels Research

Carbon Negativity

Best Effort To Build a Competitive Work Force

The Minnesota High Tech Association's STEM Programs

Best Transportation Development

Growing Public Demand for Public Transit

Best Opportunity to Be a Good Corporate Neighbor

ING's Pool

Best Product-Launch Invite

Hercke International's in Stainless Steel

Best Little Publisher That Could

Graywolf Press

Best IPO

Capella, Nasdaq: CPLA

Best Investing Style

Kopp Investment Advisors' TQM Index

Best Unknowns in the Computer-Building Business

Equus Computer Systems, Northern Computer Technologies

Most Heartening Trend in Commercial Real Estate

Bigger, Better Corporate Campuses