June 13, 2002 -
June 13, 2002 - Hormel Foods is getting ready for the grand opening of its SPAM Museum. While SPAM has been a household word for decades, other Hormel brands have since emerged and become successful. Economists say Hormel is ahead of the marketing game. And industry analysts say a lot of Hormel's success is due to product development of brands that are known worldwide. Mainstreet Radio's Laurel Druley has this report. {
June 13, 2002 - (NOTE: HOST OUTCUE) Governor Jesse Ventura is about to begin the last day of his China trade mission. It's morning in Shanghai, where Ventura will wrap up his weeklong promotion of Minnesota products and services. And as the mission comes to a close the governor and the business delegates accompanying him got a word of encouragement from former Vice President Al Gore. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo has been traveling on week with Ventura -- and filed this report from Shanghai.
June 14, 2002 - The race for governor is, as predicted, extremely close. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum has been following the balloting, and joins me now. After three ballots, legislative leader Tim Pawlenty leads entrepreneur Brian Sullivan - by just 43 votes, out of nearly 22-hundred cast. On the first ballot, Sullivan led Pawlenty by 13 votes. On the second ballot, Pawlenty pulled ahead of Sullivan - but by just nine votes. Pawlenty says he thinks momentum is going his way...
June 14, 2002 - HOST: Governor Jesse Ventura is leaving China in the next few hours. Ventura and roughly 100 government and business leaders have spent the last week in Beijing and Shanghai drumming up support for Minnesota goods and services. The governor -- and members of the delegation -- are calling the trip an unqualified success, although most agree the dividends won't be immediately apparent. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo has been traveling with the trade mission. He prepared this report from Shanghai.
June 17, 2002 - MPR’s Eugen Cha reports on efforts by Minnetonka-based company Cargill and the University of Minnesota to turn corn into plastic. It may give the state a lead in an emerging area of biotech, where the finished products are not medicines, or even crops, but industrial materials like plastic.
June 19, 2002 - Minnesota's multi-million dollar tourism industry appears to be on track for an okay summer season. State officials say they're not expecting a gangbuster summer. At this point in the season, more than half of resort and hotel owners report they're doing the same or better than last year. Mainstreet Radio's Tom Robertson has the story... {
June 21, 2002 - Best Buy is suing unidentified defendants who are accused of breaking into the computer system of a Best Buy affiliate. The computer hackers allegedly hijacked an email program, and sent spam to people on some of Best Buy's email lists. The spam APPEARED to come from Best Buy, and allegedly contained offensive messages, and links to pornography web sites. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court against John and Jane Doe, and is seeking fines and a court order to prevent the defendants from further use of the Best Buy name. The company's suit is the topic of an article in today's "The Business Journal." Andy Tellijohn is the reporter who wrote the story. He tells MPR's Perry Finelli that there are good reasons to sue against unnamed perpretrators.
June 25, 2002 - More than 100 Minnesota Brewing Company workers who lost their jobs yesterday are trying to figure out what is next for them. The bankrupt company closed its St. Paul brewery after lenders cut off funding. The Company's CEO says he's hopeful an investor can be found to reopen the brewery. And in the meantime the controversial Gopher State Ethanol operation at the brewery site will remain open. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports...
June 25, 2002 - The three major party candidates for governor debated in Duluth today. They spoke at the Minnesota Rural Summit, a yearly meeting of rural economic development workers. This year the summit's focus was the link between health care and rural economic development. Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.