Irwin Jacobs, CEO of Minneapolis-based Jacobs Management Corporation, plans a joint venture in wind energy with Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens. The two announced their intentions at a September 4 press conference, but said it was too soon to give details about the project. “It will only be revolutionary in what we bring to it, not revolutionary in the process,” Jacobs said. A Jacobs spokesperson confirmed in late September that more details would be released this fall.
Meanwhile, Minnesota has formed a new wind-energy alliance with Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The Upper Midwest Transmission Development Initiative will develop proposals for locating new wind farms and transmission lines, and for shared financing of new transmission lines.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is moving to get more of the state’s work force into health savings or reimbursement accounts. The Eagan-based insurer recently announced the launch of SureBlue, a program that offers employers guaranteed rates for three years (with increases of no more than 6 percent in years two and three), while gradually shifting employees from traditional coverage into plans that make them responsible for a greater share of health care costs.
Eden Prairie–based Supervalu has launched a line of 150 “restaurant quality” frozen and ready-to-eat foods under its new Culinary Circle brand this fall, an effort to capture dollars that are no longer going to casual-dining restaurants as people eat out less.
The Jolly Green Giant gets bigger: While he was dwarfed by recent package designs, one-third of package fronts will now be devoted to “the Green Giant, his logo, and his valley,” says the Eden Prairie–based Green Giant division of General Mills. The designs take greater advantage of the 83-year-old brand’s high equity and recognition; the company says 96 percent of consumers recognize the giant.
The Minnesota Twins report that 2008 total attendance at regular-season games was the third highest in club history: 2,302,431. Peak attendance was 3,030,672 in 1988; 1992 was the second highest with 2,482,428.
The Timberwolves sold out the 120-seat Club Cambria “luxury lounge” for the 2008–09 season, the first time since the club was opened five years ago.
