Recent content from Lee Schafer
Schafer: Fed finding maximum employment hard to measure these days
The law requires Federal Reserve officials to do what they can to foster maximum employment, yet it’s becoming obvious they really won’t know when or…
Schafer: Was RBC's fight for a prominent Minneapolis building sign worth it?
There's a temptation to think of rooftop signs as similar to the brands all over sports stadiums.
Macalester grad fulfills childhood dream of advancing math in home country of Mexico
Now an entrepreneur and educator, Cuauhtemoc Cruz Herrera has already made a big difference. And way ahead of schedule.
Schafer: Sears chairman will be remembered as professional investor who didn't want to invest
It's a harsh world for retailers and maybe nothing would have worked, but Edward Lampert gave away the company's best chance.
Schafer: Stop blaming yourself for retirement savings shortfalls
Reading a few tweets from financial writer Helaine Olen was all it took for me to abandon a long-planned personal-finance column that was going to…
Venture capitalist says 'narrative has changed' on Twin Cities startup scene
Pessimists probably don’t succeed as venture capitalists, and Ryan Broshar seemed about as sunny as a person can be early on a Monday morning in…
Schafer: New tax on nonprofit salaries means less money going the mission
New tax on salaries was meant to level playing field, but it means less money going to the mission
How Sears Imported Autos is finding skilled technicians in tight labor market
Joshua Mills has been the Mercedes-Benz service director for Sears Imported Autos of Minnetonka for a couple of years, having previously worked as a master…
Scooter blight in the Twin Cities is a feature, not a bug of startups' business model
Research into the electric scooter business quickly turned up a piece by technology columnist Troy Dreier, writing for the Jersey Journal newspaper in New Jersey.…
Schafer: Xcel's pledge to be carbon-free by 2050 makes good business sense
What we have here might simply be a case of a big company going carbon-free to meet the rising expectations of its customers.
Schafer: Investor angst is up, even as the economy keeps rising
One "vulnerability" the Fed identified that got attention was excessive debt by businesses and consumers.
Medical records create a new software niche and opportunity
Health care systems have invested billions of dollars in their electronic record systems.
Schafer: Twin Cities investment in people (and not Amazon) is right move
The way the Amazon.com HQ2 fiasco turned out raised questions that leaders of lots of cities and states have to be thinking about.
Schafer: Lessons on giving from Thoreau and Zacchaeus
"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." It's a quote so memorable that it…
Schafer: If you're like half of us and dislike job, here's possible path to retire early
FIRE, or "financial independence, retire early," is about willingly trading away material things for the flexibility to live without needing a paid job.
Lee Schafer: Minnesota, like others, was played by Amazon in HQ2 sweepstakes
Amid the flood of media coverage of the competition for the second headquarters project of Amazon.com were a couple of columns that saw real potential in the project for Minnesota, and they were written by me. What a sap.
Schafer: House-call startup finds new lease on life
A Twin Cities startup that provides health services through home visits is in its second insurance enrollment period.
Schafer: More Minnesota companies are feeling tariffs' bite
It's not just a management headache for big multinationals.
Schafer: CHS grew far beyond a simple business
CHS turned out to be in a whole extra business beyond making a profit on its members' crops.
Schafer: Mpls. investment firm tries to break spell of iPhones in our lives
Here's a possible lesson: If we want to be free of our smartphones, it seems, at least for a while it's going to be up to us.
Schafer: Tracking health spending by location gets tricky, but it's telling
Minnesota now tops the list of states in what's called healthy life expectancy, meaning not just still alive but generally healthy and free of disabling conditions.
Schafer: U economist has seen that investment in kids yields real economic returns
At least once a week the economist Art Rolnick gives a talk on the big economic returns from publicly funding early childhood education, or he…
Challenge getting his hourly work schedule inspired Thief River Falls native's $100M firm
When I Work is one of the state's highest-profile and high-potential software companies.
Schafer: Manova Global Summit called a success ... so far
Maybe one problem with the first Manova Summit was just unfamiliarity.
Schafer: Author takes analytical look at managing household money over a lifetime
"Manufacturing Wealth " is not an easy read. But for those who want to put some work into it, they will learn a great way to think about their finances.
Schafer: Rebirth of north Minneapolis funeral chapel grew into a community effort
Some of the support from Minneapolis and Hennepin County came in an unusual way.
Schafer: Rising costs are canceling out wage increases for most workers
The Trump administration insists wages are increasing. Many economists seem pretty sure that if so, the growth rate rounds to zero.
Schafer: Lessons from the crisis still relevant a decade later
The single best explanation for why we had a terrifying financial crisis 10 years ago goes back to how easy it seems to be to…
Schafer: Crow Wing Power co-op should look after members, not insider executives
The idea is that co-op members are well-equipped to look out for themselves, but Crow Wings is putting that to the test.
![Paul Aasen, president of the Minnesota Safety Council, said, “The workplace culture … [is] definitely heavily influenced by the organization’s i](http://stmedia.stimg.co/ows_153627452448815.jpg?h=120&w=180&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
Minnesota Safety Council's Paul Aasen has good, bad news
Focusing on workplace safety can pay off by lowering costs.
Schafer: Income stagnation is a big factor in housing crisis
Housing costs more than it used to for most of us, and our incomes haven't kept up.
Schafer: Talking bank failures and 'Hamilton' at the fair with Neel Kashkari
Part of the fun of going every year to the Minnesota State Fair is seeing what’s new — and this year that included Federal Reserve…
Schafer: Founders of St. Cloud startup build tech portfolio on the prairie
They don't suggest it's a lot easier to build a successful technology company in a college town more than an hour's drive from downtown Minneapolis and half a world away from Silicon Valley. They just doubt it's any harder.
Schafer: Ford case defined role of business
Sen. Elizabeth Warren hopes to see a new legal charter adopted by big American businesses. The Massachusetts Democrat’s idea being to kill the notion that…
Schafer: How Minneapolis' top tech watcher views the Tesla and Musk drama
After talking to Gene Munster, it's clear he's remaining as professional as possible when sharing his thoughts on a potential transaction that was disclosed in the wackiest possible way.
Schafer: Key to apartment development is yield, and it's slim these days
If public officials don't take the time to really get it, odds seem high that the problem of not enough lower-cost housing gets worse in the Twin Cities.
Schafer: Commuting cost can drive home-buying decisions
Home buyers have long known about this trade-off between cheaper houses and longer commutes, sometimes called the drive-until-you-qualify strategy. Buying cheaply enough to get approved for a mortgage loan means looking in neighborhoods that are probably much farther out from the city center. But commuting with a car isn't cheap.
Schafer: Cheap, short-term health plans are a cure worse than the disease
The Minnesota Council of Health Plans hasn't taken a position on a new policy initiative out of Washington because its members apparently can't all agree.
Schafer: Immigration and immigrants are a positive force in Worthington
If you're in favor of economic growth, welcoming immigrants is one good way to get that.
Schafer: Answering the phone on the first ring is more than a courtesy at Stearns Bank
The Stearns Bank equipment finance operation in Albany, Minn., has a much bigger front desk than anyone could expect.It only takes one person to greet…
Schafer: Municipal fees a barrier to more affordable housing in suburbs
Another column in an occasional series on the future of housing. Realtor Kathy Samson knew exactly how a parcel of 6.3 acres in the northwest…
Schafer: Issues behind Supervalu sale built over decades
That just isn't Supervalu's fault. It was, however, Supervalu's problem.
The company never quite met the challenge.
Schafer: CEOs are doing just fine thanks to corporate tax cuts
Top executives are doing just fine, thanks to corporate tax cuts.
Schafer: Main Street Meter can tell us when there's no room left to grow
The current economic expansion is about a year away from setting a record as the longest in American history.
Schafer: Online businesses turn to old-school offline marketing
Maybe it shouldn't have been surprising that the world's leading e-commerce company plans to distribute paper catalogs and is going after new customers with direct mail.
Schafer: Bed-in-a-box concept lowers prices, but is it adding value?
For those determined to figure out what to buy without any help, good luck.
Schafer: Adidas deal with Timberwolves' Derrick Rose a bet that didn't quite play out
Co-branding with a bench player in an NBA backwater obviously isn't what anyone at Adidas had in mind when locking up the endorsement rights to Rose back in 2012 — a contract that has been regularly reported as worth about $190 million.
Schafer: Market forces, regulation have worked against more affordable housing
If the question is how to make more affordable housing units available, a Minneapolis Fed official's answer is not that complicated.
Schafer: Minnesota soybean farmers have a problem, but how big?
Thanks to an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China, Minnesota-grown soybeans are about to get a lot more expensive for Chinese buyers.
Schafer: Want affordable housing? Do you have 40 years?
Third in an occasional series on the future of housing. Here’s an old real estate joke you maybe haven’t heard before: Know how to create…
Schafer: Defining the Mayo Clinic could cost it millions in lawsuit
While it's obvious the Mayo Clinic is a health care provider, it's not at all obvious that this is the best way to describe it.
Schafer: New HealthPartners CEO keeps eye on goal of simpler, less costly care
The CEO changed but the business plan didn't at one of the largest health providers in the Twin Cities.
Schafer: For smaller firms, going public is a big challenge
The story of ASV illustrates some of the trends that have made Minnesota’s list of public companies much smaller than it once was. Before the…
Schafer: Why there's no longer such a thing as an affordable new house in Minneapolis
"In a weird way, it's not that complicated" to explain why those lots in Minneapolis are fairly valued at pretty much zero, said Chris Wilson, senior director of real estate development for the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Project for Pride in Living.
Schafer: Building leases can guarantee control for business owners
Just outside the construction fence for the Major League Soccer stadium project in St. Paul is Big Top Liquors, a retailer that has been there…
Schafer: Kipsu founder says low cost of living is region's secret weapon
First of an occasional series on the future of housing. Entrepreneur Chris Smith just moved a company called Kipsu into new office space in…
Schafer: A large fee for proposed Fort Snelling housing project, yes, but the risk is there
Take a closer look at the project now called the A-Mill Artist Lofts, and you can see this isn't the kind of work that novices should take on.
Schafer: In consumer robotics race, Tennant keeps focus on customer
The machines embraced by mainstream customers rarely seem to be cool, ground-up inventions.
Schafer: Are low interest rates here to stay? Fed official says they might be
It always pays to be at least a little skeptical of talk of a new normal, but John Williams' talk was still well worth taking in.
Schafer: Mosaic's headquarters move is disappointing but put it into context
It was surprising to learn this week that the Mosaic Co. has elected to relocate its corporate headquarters to Florida, though the surprise was in…
Schafer: Medtronic hire brings expertise and plenty of questions
Medtronic clearly wanted to show how serious its executives are about creating "shareholder value." That only invited more questions.
Schafer: Sezzle online installment plans appeal to millennials without credit cards
There has been a boomlet of financial technology startups since the Great Recession, with fintech firms making a home in the Twin Cities.
Schafer: Hiring challenge knocked Twin Cities off Amazon's list
The recruiting challenge is what came out of feedback Amazon gave officials as part of calls to most of the also-rans in the race to become a second headquarters town.
Ford Motor Co. isn't quitting the car business—just the unprofitable car business
Doubters' misunderstanding seems to be a big part of the head-scratching reaction.
Schafer: Herberger's closing hard to take, but it's hard to fault investors
It's galling to have to admit they were almost certainly right.
Schafer: Decades-old Medtronic mission statement offers lessons today
At first it seemed that Medtronic Chairman and CEO Omar Ishrak planned to deliver a superficial introduction to Medtronic, as if maybe no one in…
Schafer: Fed's Kashkari sees strengthening case for higher rates
Kashkari spent much of last year as a sometimes lonely voice at the Fed opposing the idea that short-term interest rates should go up. While he's not exactly on board now with boosting them, a lot has changed since his last no vote. That was only last December.
Schafer: Private equity has a PR problem
An April blizzard turned into just another bad PR moment for private-equity managers, who can't even seem to come up with a good word to describe themselves.
Schafer: Rolling recalls test Polaris' commitment to running lean
If operational excellence is a big part of the Polaris story, it really needs to stop recalling its products for potential safety problems.
Schafer: How much are your online data really worth?
So what's the users' privacy worth? It's priceless.
Schafer: UCare created a culture that allowed turnaround after big loss
UCare executives had to cut costs to survive. But there are lessons to be learned here about how they went about it.
Ceridian growth is good sign for the Twin Cities
You may have to forgive some of us for our enthusiasm at the launch of Ceridian HCM Holding as a public company. It's a compelling growth story right now.
New numbers show PolyMet's Minnesota mine holds smaller potential, except to backer Glencore
Opponents of PolyMet Mining's plan to mine for copper, nickel and other metals in northeastern Minnesota keep hoping that the economics of the project collapse…
Schafer: Pawlenty's futurism helps steer broader understanding of changing economy
Whether talking about 3-D printed houses or smart toilets is a shrewd way to win votes remains to be seen.
Schafer: Firing MNLARS manager won't fix what led to debacle
It may look like the state of Minnesota acted just like the state’s best-run companies by holding someone accountable for the mess made of a…
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