The Number: 696
That's how many high school students there are for every career and college counselor in the state, says Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, and that ratio is not great for future economic prospects. Smith was in town Friday for a business roundtable as part of the new #InnovateMN initiative, and a focus of that was, as it should be, the local workforce. If we're going to keep our kids from leaving town forever, we need people (other than, say, me) showing them there's opportunity to go to school or into a career right here at home - someone who can fight the allure of an apartment in Dinkytown and an art history degree. Though we need some of those too.
The Word: "I'd like to talk briefly on tax reform," said Allete VP Bob Adams during last week's investor call, a phrase that incites excitement in wonks like me or causes a wholesale tune-out in others. "Lower corporate tax rates, interest deductibility and the expensing of capital expenditures have all been discussed among other issues. These could have offsetting impacts on customer rates and earnings." Jeez, what can't lower taxes do? (Aside from providing for government services and those trillions of dollars in national debt.)
The Lead: Duluth's Swim Creative recently produced ads for Miller Hill Subaru, and the small creative studio got to work with the automaker's corporate folks and with Carmichael Lynch, the Minneapolis-based agency that produces national ads for the company. Which is pretty cool.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Happy Hour: Cloquet restaurant Avenue C has opened its doors on, you guessed it, Avenue C. The upscale Americana eatery's tagline is "having fun with food," which I do not believe is code for food-fight-friendly, but I'll let you be the first to test that.
The Meeting: Marketing to Generation Z: Millennials are so over (and we're over you). It's time to start pivoting your sales pitches to the next generation, those born between 2000 and yesterday. Leah Kolhts and Dan Fanning from UWS will give you the scoop during a talk called "Connecting with the Next Generation on Their Terms." The gig goes down at noon Wednesday at the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce, 5 W. First St. Here's hoping there's some advice on getting those youngsters to buy newspapers.
The Memo is a weekly roundup of things to know, ya know? Send business news of all kinds to biz@duluthnews.com and give Subaru-driving business reporter Brooks Johnson a call every now and then at 218-723-5329.
