By Chris NewmarkerStaff Writer

About 8,500 job seekers have inundated Maple Grove Hospital with applications for the 180 posi-tions it needs to fill before opening its doors Dec. 30.

The last time a hospital opened in the Twin Cities — Woodbury’s Woodwinds Health Campus in 2000 — 3,800 people applied for 390 positions.

The crush for jobs at Maple Grove Hospital is symptomatic of

a recession in which thou-sands of health care workers around the Twin Cities have been let go. Major layoffs in the past 12 months included more than 700 jobs at St. Louis Park-based Park Nicollet Health Services and 380 posi-tions at Robbinsdale-based North

Memorial Health Care.Andy Cochrane, Maple Grove

Hospital’s CEO, said his human re-sources staff has been busy screen-ing applications filed on the hospi-tal’s Web site. They’re filling a variety of jobs: registered nurses, nursing assistants, patient care facilitators, housekeepers, dietary experts and maintenance workers. There’s also a need for lab, imaging and phar-macy technicians.

Only a few critical leadership

InsIde thIs week

Index on page 3

sales call :Target, ShopNBC go outside to sell phone plans online.| 3

eyes on Mauer:The Twins star won MVP title; will he stay with the team?Business Pulse | 26

Microsoft office?The software giant is close to lease at Norman Pointe II.| 3

By Chris NewmarkerStaff Writer

Count hundreds of construction workers among those hurt by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s line-item veto of the state’s General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) health insurance program for the poor.

Regions Hospital, which is facing millions of dol-lars in state funding cuts, indefinitely delayed plans to build a $36 million mental-health facility on its down-town St. Paul campus, a project the hospital said would

have created about 650 construction jobs.The hospital, part of the Bloomington-based

HealthPartners system, previously planned to break ground in 2011 or 2012 on a seven-story, 98,883-square-foot building, with the 100-bed facility opening in 2013. Regions already spent $1 million to have BWBR Architects Inc. of St. Paul draw up plans, and it ex-pected to use Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. as the general contractor.

Regions shelved $36M project as Mn cut aid

8,500 apply for 180 Maple Grove jobs

software firm to build $20m hQ in medinaBy sam BlaCkStaff Writer

Open Systems International Inc. plans to build a $20 million headquar-ters in Medina and move out of leased space in Plymouth.

The 17-year-old, employee-owned firm specializes in energy manage-ment software.

Open Systems plans to acquire between 15 to 20 acres of undevel-oped land at the corner of Highway 55 and Arrowhead Drive. The site is part of a farmed 104-acre tract owned by Wilfred Cavanaugh of Golden Valley.

On the site, Open Systems wants to develop about 95,000 square feet, including 40,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 to 50,000 square feet of industrial-technology labs, ware-house, training and general meeting/cafeteria space.

RSP Architects Ltd. is designing the new space, and real estate firm CresaPartners, in Minneapolis, is con-sulting on the move. Open Systems hasn’t selected a general contractor.

The company plans to secure an option for 10 to 15 additional acres for future expansion.

Open Systems’ existing headquar-ters is in the Plymouth Ponds Business

NaNCy kuehN | MINNeaPolIS/ST. Paul BuSINeSS JourNal

Tom Geskermann, vice president of operations at Regions Hospital, said the cut in state funding made it impossible to afford building a 100-bed mental-health facility in St. Paul.

architects recognize top projects of their peers with aia honor awards.special report | 9

awaRd wInneRs

mediNa | PaGe 26 regioNs | PaGe 27

joBs | PaGe 26

December 4, 2009 Breaking news all day on the web: mspbj.com Vol. 27, No. 26 $2.00

hope for hotels:occupancy rose in october; is it a sign of life in market?| 4

Cochrane

Ingram

hospItaLs In ReCessIon

NewsmakersNewsmakers A comprehensive list of the people and companies appearing in the Business Journal this week

2 Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal | mspbj.com December 4, 2009

People

Amazon.com Co. Inc. ......................................................... 3American Institute of Architects Minnesota ....... 11, 13Anchor BanCorp ................................................................. 7Asia Sales & Marketing ....................................................16

Badger Holdings ................................................................. 7Best Buy Co. Inc. ............................................................3, 7BWBR Architects Inc. ................................................1, 26Citizens National Bank ....................................................... 7

comScore .............................................................................. 7CresaPartners ...................................................................... 1Delta Air Lines Inc. .............................................................. 7DJ Kranz Co. Inc. ...............................................................26Dougherty & Co. ................................................................26Duke Realty Corp. ............................................................... 3Fairview Health Services .................................................26Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. .................................... 7Fingerhut ................................................................................ 4First Financial Services Inc. .............................................. 7Fredrikson & Byron ............................................................. 5Great River Energy ...........................................................11HealthEast Care System .................................................26HealthPartners ..................................................................... 1Hennepin County Medical Center ................................27Hilton Minneapolis............................................................... 4Home Depot, The ..............................................................16HS and Associates ............................................................. 7JAS Apartments ................................................................... 7Jones Lang LaSalle ............................................................. 3Kema .....................................................................................26Kiosk Operations Inc. ......................................................... 3Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. ................................. 1Ladin Ventures ..................................................................... 4LifeScience Alley ...............................................................18Loram Maintenance of Way Inc. ....................................26Luke Studios .......................................................................16Macalester College ............................................................. 5Madisonville State Bank .................................................... 7Magenic Technologies Inc. ............................................... 3Maple Grove Hospital ........................................................ 1Mayo Clinic ........................................................................18Memorial Health Care ........................................................ 1Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle Ltd. ................................13Microsoft Corp. .............................................................3, 18Minnesota Department of Commerce ........................... 7Minnesota Twins ................................................................26

Minnesota Vikings ............................................................... 7Morris Abstract & Title Inc. ................................................ 7Mosaic Co., The................................................................... 7Nonin Medical ....................................................................18North Houston Bank........................................................... 7North Memorial Health Care ............................................ 1Open Systems International Inc. ..................................... 1Park Nicollet Health Services .......................................... 1Perkins+Will........................................................................11Piper Jaffray Cos. ..............................................................26PKF Hospitality Research ................................................. 4Polaris Industries Inc. .......................................................26RadioShack Corp. ............................................................... 3RBC Capital Markets .......................................................26Regions Hospital ................................................................. 1River View Holdings LLC ................................................... 7RSP Architects Ltd. ............................................................ 1Sears ....................................................................................16Seasonal Concepts ..........................................................16ShopNBC ............................................................................. 3Simplexity............................................................................... 3Smith Travel Research Inc. ............................................... 4Target Corp. ......................................................................3, 7Telsey Advisory Group ....................................................... 3Tomsten Inc. ......................................................................... 7U.S. Bank .............................................................................. 7U.S. Green Building Council ..........................................11United Properties ..............................................................26University of Minnesota Law School .............................. 5University of St. Thomas .......................................... 26, 27Urban Outfi tters .................................................................13ValueVision Media Inc. ....................................................... 3Winmark Corp. .................................................................... 7Woodwinds Health Campus ............................................ 1VitalMedix ..........................................................................18

Cochranepage 1

Dimondpage 11

Fosterpage 5

Geskermannpage 27

Ingrampage 26

Ladinpage 4

McLaughlinpage 26

Sethrepage 16

Stowerspage 13

Companies

Adams, Chad ......................................................................26Boehle, Sarah....................................................................... 3Brink, Loren .........................................................................16Campobasso, John ...........................................................27Cavanaugh, Wilfred ............................................................ 1Cochrane, Andy ................................................................... 1Crounse, Bill .......................................................................18Dimond, Dave .....................................................................11Feldman, Joe ......................................................................... 3Fenske, Jackie ...................................................................... 4

Foster, Dulce......................................................................... 5Frankenfi eld, Greg .............................................................. 3Fren, Steve ............................................................................ 7Geskermann, Tom .............................................................27Gill, Bob ...............................................................................26Hanlon, Ed ............................................................................. 4Hanna, Lee ............................................................................ 7Hovde, Steven ...................................................................... 7Hoveida, Bahman ..............................................................26Ingram, Ron .........................................................................26

Ladin, Steve .......................................................................... 4LaRusso, Nicholas ............................................................18Lind, Bob .............................................................................26Luke, Allen ...........................................................................16Luke, John.............................................................................. 4Mascia, Pat............................................................................ 3Mauer, Joe ...........................................................................26McLaughlin, Daniel ............................................................26Militello, Jack .......................................................................27Morgan, John ....................................................................... 7

Morris, Andrew ..................................................................... 7Parker, Leonard ..................................................................11Pawlenty, Tim ........................................................................ 1Schrogie, John ..................................................................... 3Sethre, Jennifer ..................................................................16Stowers, Josh .....................................................................13Tarbox, Ned ........................................................................... 3

1115 Second Avenue South | 612.353.3500 | porterandfrye.com

M O D E R N + M I D W E S T

Your Appetizer...

Your Dinner...

Your Dessert...

You’re welcome.

By sam BlaCkStaff Writer

Steve Ladin wants to expand his real estate brokerage business 500 square feet at a time.

Ladin, CEO and owner of Ladin Ventures, has turned the focus of his three-year-old firm primarily to representing mom-and-pop busi-nesses that fly under the radar of most com-mercial real estate firms.

On Monday, Ladin moved his five-employee company from a small office in St. Louis Park into a strip center next to a Famous Dave’s res-taurant in Plymouth.

Ladin said his company targets day-care providers, hair salons, restaurants and other small companies that can benefit from having a real estate advocate. That strategy has poten-tial because the small-business market is ex-panding as laid off workers start new compa-nies, he said. “We see this huge upswing in the small-business realm. In Minnesota, 44,000 new businesses start every year.”

Small tenants and new entrepreneurs tend to rely too heavily on finding commercial real es-tate by calling phone numbers on signs in front of buildings, Ladin said, adding that it’s often difficult for small businesses to find a broker.

Ladin wants his company to be approach-able by small businesses. “We’re not going to wear suits or be ostentatious.”

Ladin’s real estate career began in 2000 when he joined Miller Management Co., a St. Louis Park-based apartment operator that he and two partners sold in 2006.

He spent his first few years at Ladin Ventures focusing on the multifamily market, helping

buy and sell apartment buildings. When that market tailed off this year, Ladin began to fo-cus on the needs of small businesses.

Ladin said he has about 20 small clients, and most deals he works on are for between 500 and 10,000 square feet.

He’s recruited Jackie Fenske, former vice president of merchandising operations at Fingerhut, to be executive vice president and oversee most day-to-day operations.

Ladin’s goal is to increase the firm’s size to at least 15 advisers and 25 total employees by the

end of 2010, then double that in 2011.Ladin said he received a lot of quality re-

sumes from brokers through ads on Craig’s List. His blog, theschmoozer.net, says that the company is seeking agents who know the mar-ket and are enthusiastic about trying new busi-ness methods. He indicates the brokers might make more than $80,000 in the first year.

Ladin is heavily involved in social media. He designed his own avatar (above) and has about 950 followers on Twitter.

Ed Hanlon, a commercial real estate broker in the Minnetonka office of Edina Realty Inc. who works with many small companies, said most small businesses can benefit from having their own tenant reps and it seems like Ladin’s business plan has merit.

However, it takes many little deals to equal one big deal, and the little ones often require hand-holding while excited entrepreneurs fig-ure out the realities of paying for real estate.

sblack@bizjournals.com | (612) 288-2103

ma-and-pa focused brokerage moves to grow 4 Minneapolis/st. paul Business Journal | mspbj.com december 4, 2009

CoRReCtIons

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL BUSINESS JOURNAL (ISSN 1540-1847) is published weekly except semi-weekly the last week of December for a subscription rate of $93, which includes a 53rd special issue in December which has a retail value of $54. Published by CityBusiness/Twin Cities, Inc., 120 South 6th Street, Suite 900, Minneapolis, MN 55402-1803. Periodicals postage paid at Minneapolis, MN. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL BUSINESS JOURNAL 120 South 6th Street, Suite 900, Minneapolis, MN 55402-1302. Copyright © 2009 with all rights reserved.

Slide in Twin Cities hotel business starting to slowBy johN Vomhof jr.Staff Writer

The recession has battered the Twin Cities hotel market, but there are signs that the in-dustry’s declines are beginning to slow.

Hotel consulting firm PKF Hospitality Research projects that revenue per available room (RevPAR) — a leading industry met-ric — will drop 9.7 percent from a year ago in Minneapolis during the fourth quarter of 2009, the smallest decline since the Twin Cities host-ed the Republic National Convention in the third quarter of 2008.

RevPAR climbed 0.7 percent in October, following declines of 20 percent or more in nine of the past 10 months, according to Hendersonville, Tenn.-based Smith Travel Research Inc.

Occupancy jumped 10.5 percent, the largest

year-over-year increase since May 2007.Declining room rates, however, remain a

challenge for local hotels. PKF projects that av-erage daily rates will slump 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Rates were down 8.9 percent in October, following drops of 23.1 percent and 29 percent in August and September, respec-tively, according to Smith Travel Research.

Local hotel managers have mixed views on the strength of the market.

Hilton Minneapolis General Manager John Luke is among the most optimistic. He ex-pects revenue at his hotel to grow more than 10 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to double-digit declines in each of the first three quarters of the year.

“We’re not out of the woods yet, but the sil-ver lining is that we are starting to see some

NaNCy kuehN | MINNeaPolIS/ST. Paul BuSINeSS JourNal

Steve Ladin

sLowIng deCLIneFiscal period Revenue per Percent change available room from year-ago (daily average) periodQ1 2008 $56.91 -0.6Q2 2008 $69.81 0.2Q3 2008 $81.10 3.9Q4 2008 $51.07 -15.0Q1 2009 $45.90 -19.3Q2 2009* $54.93 -21.3Q3 2009^ $59.51 -26.6Q4 2009^ $46.09 -9.7

* Includes estimated results for month of June ^ Projection

Source: PKF Hospitality Research, Smith Travel Research Inc.

LadIn VentUResCEO: Steve LadinLocation: PlymouthDescription: Boutique real estate firm representing small tenants

Revenue: Not disclosedEmployees: 5Web: ladinventures.comTwitter: @ladinventures

The story, “Growing at a fast clip,” in the Nov. 13 edition, incorrectly provided Bob Chelberg’s title. He is the area developer for Sport Clips hair salon, which has sold 29 franchise licenses in Minnesota. The number of franchises sold was incorrect in the story.

The Nov. 20 story “Erickson family has troubled Lake Area Bank’s back” incorrectly stated Marc Campbell’s title. He is president and chief operating officer.

In the Nov. 27 story, “Feds double office space needed for relocation,” an incorrect photo was published on page 19 of John McCarthy, an office broker at Bloomington-based NorthMarq Real Estate Services.

Fair and accurate coverage is at the heart of the mission on the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. We will promptly print corrections of substantive errors. If you believe incorrect or unfair information has appeared in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, please contact Editor Dirk DeYoung at (612) 288-2111 or ddeyoung@bizjournals.com.

McCarthy

hoTels | PaGe 27