As this is going to press on December 2, the price of gas is under $2 a gallon after costing nearly $4 in the summer (good); the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 7 percent to just above 8,000 (bad); and a group of economists has announced that the U.S. has officially been in recession for a year (lousy).
Only one thing is certain—that nothing is. The economy is going to be intensely challenging in 2009. A new presidential administration will add to the volatility.
Most businesses will be worth watching in the coming year, to see how they handle this extraordinary situation. Twin Cities Business chose the following 20 companies and their leaders as higher-profile representatives of enterprises in a variety of industries: retail, financial services, manufacturing, health care, real estate, construction, transportation. How they manage will provide an indicator of how well the entire state will manage in these difficult times.
Fasten your seat belts.
Gregg Steinhafel
President and CEO, Target Corporation
Roberta Bonoff
President and CEO, Creative Kidstuff
Michael Tattersfield
President and CEO, Caribou Coffee
Liwanag Ojala
General manager, e-commerce, CobornsDelivers
James Prokopanko
President and CEO, The Mosiac Company
Richard Davis
President, CEO, and Chair, U.S. Bancorp
Kenneth Paulus
President, Allina Hospitals & Clinics
Tom Ressemann
CEO, Entellus Medical
Ron Peltier
CEO, HomeServices of America
Laura Hamilton
President, CEO and Chair, MTS Systems Corporation
Tom McGough
President, McGough Companies
John Wiehoff
President, CEO, and Chair, C.H. Robinson Worldwide
Hubert Joly
President and CEO, Carlson
Dawn Owens
CEO, OptumHealth
Mark Greene
CEO, Fair Isaac Corporation
Scott Wine
CEO, Polaris Industries
Doug Kelley
Receiver, Petters Group Worldwide
