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 :: EXPANSION
Dent Kraft prez
wants to add
?old-world? techs
by Beth Ewen
Arete (AIR-a-tee) Passas got a surprise at the New York Toy Fair's awards show Feb. 16. As she waited backstage to present the best boys' toy award, her name was called.
Her company, Manhattan Toy, won best girls' toy for its new line of Groovy Girl dolls, dressed as Girl Scouts. The TOTY Awards (for Toy of the Year) are her industry's Oscars, she says.
Manhattan Toy obtained the license from Girl Scouts USA, and launched the line of seven dolls plus accessories (such as tents and camping chairs) about a year ago. “I've been working with the Girl Scouts for years,” she says, and was the local board chair in the Twin Cities.
“When I took the job here as president three years ago, I thought that what the Groovy Girl line of dolls embodies was so consistent with the values of the Girl Scouts.?
It's the first time that Manhattan Toy has carried a license, and the arrangement is part of a new licensing program that the Girl Scouts is doing, she says. The deal “raises the visibility of the Groovy Girl line of dolls in retailers' minds and in consumers' minds.”
Manhattan Toy, owned by holding company H Enterprises in Minneapolis, won best girls' toy and best specialty line in 2002, for the Groovy Girl dolls, which depict girls with age-appropriate figures and all skin and hair colors. It began selling the dolls in Target stores in 2004.
Arete Passas, Manhattan Toy: 800.541.1345; www.manhattantoy.com
