State briefs: Rochester branding gets an update

The city of Rochester plans to unveil a new slogan and logo this week when it rolls out a brand refresh that was more than a year in the making. The logo features a city skyline, while the slogan, "Minnesota's Rochester: America's City of Care and Innovation," reflects the prominence of its No. 1 employer: the Mayo Clinic.

Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Brad Jones said the first of the new branding debuts Tuesday, with more changes coming in the months ahead.

The RCVB will be renamed Experience Rochester, and the Rochester Amateur Sports Commission will become Rochester Sports. New websites for both offices should be up and running in a few months.

Jones said the emphasis on Minnesota was needed to help distinguish Rochester from its namesake in New York, according to market research conducted for the new slogan.

"We're positioning ourselves to a global audience," he said.

The marketing refresh cost about $150,000. Fuse Ideas of Boston did the branding work. The contract was paid for with funds raised from the local lodging tax of 7 percent, a portion of which goes to the RCVB.

The new slogan replaces "Rah, Rah Rochester," which was unveiled in 2006 shortly after Jones arrived in the city.

A $15.4 million state grant will help the city of Pipestone complete a new water treatment plant expected to eliminate naturally occurring radioactivity in the water, said City Administrator Jeff Jones.

The plant has been under construction since the summer and should come on line by the end of 2018 or early 2019.

The plant will also soften the local groundwater before it's piped to local homes, reducing the need for in-home water softeners. Local use of water softeners has led to high chloride levels in water discharged from local homes.

The Minnesota Public Facilities Authority provided the grant.

Matt McKinney

The Jan. 19-20 festivities include outdoor hockey games on Lake George and at the National Sports Center in St. Cloud, including the first-ever outdoor women's college hockey game (St. Cloud State will face off against rival University of Minnesota Duluth). The games will be broadcast on Fox Sports North or FSN Plus.

The St. Cloud Area Convention & Visitors Bureau expects 6,000 to 8,000 visitors to attend.

Hockey Day Minnesota was started in 2007 by the Minnesota Wild. Stillwater, Duluth and St. Paul are just a few of the cities that have hosted the celebration.

For more details, go to nhl.com/wild/community/hockey-day-minnesota.