Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
INFORMER :: REAL ESTATE
Park Midway Bank?s new
?green? HQ leads
to more business, too
Sunlight pours through the artistic skylights and the floor-to-ceiling windows at the new headquarters for Park Midway Bank in St. Paul.
Those windows are energy-efficient, as is the heating and mechanical system, the motion-sensitive lights, the low-water system in the restrooms, and everything else in the new building on Como Avenue in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood.
It?s the first LEED-certified bank building in Minnesota, says banker Terri Banaszewski. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Rick Beeson, president and CEO, expects payback on most of those items within 15 years. The building cost $5 million, about $200,000 more than it would have without the special features. He says he didn?t necessarily expect the effort to build an environmentally friendly building to take on a life of its own.
But now the bank has contracted with Xcel Energy to buy 30 percent of its electricity from wind, which costs a bit more. They may sponsor a wind turbine in the neighborhood to generate electricity.
They?ve offering an eco-checking account, which is an online bank account and they?ll donate $20 to an environmental cause when a customer opens one. They have a promotional loan rate for those who buy a hybrid car. They have a partnership with Eureka Recycling and buy all post-consumer paper products.
A new coffee bar in the lobby, which Park Midway underwrites with the proceeds going to a neighborhood group each month, is generating new connections, says Banaszewski.
?We?re going to do a lot with this theme,? Beeson says. Park Midway has $250 million in assets and is growing 12 percent a year.
?Being an urban community bank that we are, we felt we had to demonstrate our leadership. We thought we had to back our words with actions,? Beeson says.
He says they had to start early to get community support for the project. ?This is the biggest building in the Park, and we had a little open space and we built over that,? Beeson says.
?You have to build in a lot of process time. This neighborhood is change-averse.? They started with a town hall meeting, then developed a task force, hand-picking key people in the neighborhood to sit on it. ?So it became a fun process, although they pushed back,? he says about the neighbors.
Rick Beeson, Terri Banaszewski, Park Midway Bank: 651.523.7800;
ri**@************nk.com; te****@************nk.com;
www.parkmidwaybank.com
