As Kraus-Anderson’s facilities assessment manager, Tim Kittila uses his engineering talents to help building owners make smart decisions related to everything from deferred maintenance to energy efficiency.

In a nutshell, he helps owners get the most out of their facilities. Kraus-Anderson recently created his position to build upon its burgeoning facilities assessment services.

Before joining Kraus-Anderson, Kittila directed the business data unit at Eden Prairie-based Parallel Technologies. Previously, he was a partner and vice president of St. Paul-based Hypertect, a designer and builder of mechanical systems for data centers.

Born and raised on the East Coast, Kittila earned a mechanical engineering degree at Virginia Tech’s Polytechnic Institute and State University in Virginia. He followed that up with an MBA at the University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business and Economics.

In this episode Reporter Brian Johnson speaks with Kittila about his background, his new job, and his Twin Cities roots.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/03/qa-kraus-andersons-future-in-facilities-assessments/

The need for more affordable housing in Minnesota is well documented. According to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Minnesota needs to add 300,000 more homes statewide by 2030, including at least 2,500 for those earning $30,000 or less.

Unsheltered homelessness has increased 125% since 2015 and about 8,000 Minnesotans experience homelessness each night, the agency says.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores those needs. Put another way, the health crisis has forced Minnesotans to stay at home or “shelter in place,” but what about those who don’t have a home – or are forced to live in an overcrowded shelter?

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Commissioner Jennifer Ho addresses that and other questions in the context of the agency’s state bonding request, which includes $200 million in housing infrastructure bonds and $60 million in public housing improvements. She also offers her take on the outlook for a robust bonding bill in 2020, among other topics.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/04/bonding-2020-housing-even-more-important-agency-chief-says/

A major bonding bill for public works projects would be a big topic of conversation in a normal even-numbered year, but 2020 has been anything but normal as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Even so, advocates for a robust bonding bill say that that doesn’t take away the need to invest in buildings and infrastructure.

In a series of articles and episodes in Beyond the Skyline, Finance & Commerce is taking a closer look at some of the notable bonding requests for 2020. This episode looks at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, which is asking for $15 million in economic development grants for everything from water infrastructure in Greater Minnesota to statewide transportation initiatives.

In the following interview, DEED Commissioner Steve Grove talks about the request and makes a case for why it’s important to keep making those investments – even in the midst of a global public health crisis.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/04/bonding-2020-deed-sees-an-economic-jump-start/

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/03/bonding-2020/

When Doran Cos. President and CEO Anne Behrendt purchased a majority stake in the company last May, she set the company on a path that is both new and well worn.

The Bloomington-based general contractor and commercial real estate development company has changed since it was founded 13 years ago, moving into multifamily projects after getting a start in student housing. Company founder Kelly Doran was active before that in retail development. In 2018, the company also established an office in Denver.

In February, the company was certified as the fourth-largest woman-owned business in Minnesota by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned, controlled and operated by women in the United States. Behrendt started as Doran Cos.’ general counsel in 2011, before moving up the company’s leadership structure top lead the 300-employee company which had more than $250 million in revenue in 2019.

Reporter Matt Johnson recently sat down with Behrendt to learn more about her career, and initial months as Doran Cos. majority owner.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/02/qa-dorans-behrendt-says-yes-to-opportunity/

The aging U.S. population may bode well for senior housing providers, but the so-called “senior tsunami” doesn’t guarantee success in the complicated business of providing homes and services for older adults.

So says Jill Johnson, a Minneapolis-based consultant with more than 30 years of consulting experience in the senior living arena. Johnson, the president and founder of Minneapolis-based Johnson Consulting Services, speaks from experience.

A three-time Finance & Commerce “Top Women in Finance” honoree and Hall of Fame inductee, Johnson counts two of the nation’s 10 largest not-for-profit senior living organizations among her clients, and she has consulted on more than $4 billion worth of business activity for clients in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Taking a boots-on-the-ground approach to her work, Johnson has visited more than 2,000 senior living communities in the U.S., and has studied thousands more from a distance, according to her bio.

Last month, Johnson spoke with reporter Brian Johnson about her new book, “Market Forces: Strategic Trends Impacting Senior Living Providers.” The book touches on everything from demographics to capital markets as they relate to senior living providers. In her interview, Johnson talks about challenges and opportunities for senior living providers from both a local and national perspective.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/02/qa-consultant-explores-market-forces-in-senior-living/

When we last spoke with Tony Layne in October, the managing director and principal at the Minneapolis office of architecture firm Perkins & Will talked about retaining talent, receiving an AIA award and the core values at his Minneapolis office. The world has changed since then.

Much of Layne’s focus has been on work for corporate clients, including renovation and repositioning work of office buildings. Some of his projects include the repositioning of the AT&T Tower in downtown Minneapolis, the expansion and renovation of Land O Lakes Arden Hills headquarters and the conversion of a midcentury, single-tenant office building at 3701 Wayzata Blvd. in Minneapolis into a multi tenant office building.

Layne, 42, grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and earned a master’s degree in architecture at the University of Minnesota. He currently lives in Bloomington with his wife and their son.

Reporter Matt Johnson caught up with Layne to talk about the evolving nature of design. Layne sees a future in which his work advances the integration of technology into a workplace that is both mobile and office centered. Commercial office space will continue to have a solid place in that work world, but more as a place where people choose to be together rather than a place they are required to go every day.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/03/qa-architect-envisions-office-as-place-where-workers-want-to-go/

In this episode, Finance & Commerce reporter Brian Johnson speaks with Bill Baxley, Managing Director

of the Minneapolis office of the Gensler architecture firm.

Baxley has been in charge of the 30-person office for nearly 3 years. He recently oversaw Gensler’s

move into 8,000 square feet of space on the top floor of the 706 Building at the Baker Center. Baxley has

more than 30 years of experience in the field, including 24 in the Twin Cities region. His work on public,

corporate, and educational projects has been recognized both locally and nationally.

Baxley spoke with Brian about a wide range of design topics, including the coronavirus scare and how

the health crisis might have an impact on designs of the future.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/03/government-office-closings-present-risks-to-contractors/

https://finance-commerce.com/2019/11/qa-baxley-embraces-the-design-of-change/

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/03/pandemic-could-drive-office-school-design-trends/

Josh Brandsted has been president of Minneapolis development company Greco for the past five years. At the start of the year he was named managing partner and now has a 50 percent ownership in the business.

A New Underwood, South Dakota, native, Brandsted worked his way up to his leadership role from running the books for one of Greco’s apartment buildings. Now 37, he will be running much of Greco’s workload and leading the company’s 45 employees.

Earlier this year, Greco finish work on the Sable condominiums it built as part of United Properties The Nordic project, a property just down the street from Greco’s offices in the Copham apartment building the company renovated in the Minneapolis North Loop neighborhood. Greco currently manages about 900 apartments in the Twin Cities, but is seeking to grow that number to 2,500 in the coming years.

In late January, Reporter Matt Johnson spoke with Brandsted and Greco founder Arnie Gregory to learn more about Brandsted and his rise to co-lead the company.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/01/qa-grecos-new-leader-has-the-ability-to-do-it-all/

The Minnesota Legislature has some tough choices to make this year when it comes to borrowing money for public works projects.

During the 2020 legislative session, lawmakers are expected to consider a bonding bill that could range in size from just under $1 billion to $2 billion-plus. More than $5 billion requests from state agencies and local governments are in the mix for funding.

In a series of upcoming articles, Finance & Commerce is taking a closer look at some of the notable requests. Many of the stories in the series will include an accompanying interview and episode of Beyond the Skyline, offering additional in-depth analysis. Watch for those shows labeled Bonding 2020.

The series begins with a focus on the University of Minnesota’s $317.3 million wish list for everything from building maintenance to chemistry lab upgrades.

University Services is the department behind the scenes that provides the non-academic operations to the University of Minnesota on the Twin Cities campus and, for some services, system wide. According to their website, they “shovel the snow, serve the food, patrol the streets, heat the buildings, renovate facilities, monitor lab safety, and house our students.”

Reporter Brian Johnson sat down with University Services Vice President Mike Berthelsen to talk about the U’s specific needs during this bonding session.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/03/bonding-2020-preserving-the-states-educational-assets/

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/02/minnesota-coronavirus-testing-lab-needs-21-5-million-fix/

Chris Romano believes that even a half century of rebuilding and redeveloping one of Minneapolis’ most dense and diverse neighborhoods is only a beginning.

In January, Romano moved into the executive director’s position with Seward Redesign, a neighborhood-based community development organization that just celebrated its 50-year anniversary. The nonprofit recently secured tax increment financing for the planned 32-unit Wadaag Commons and the 128-unit Bessemer Apartments, which will be the first market-rate apartment developed in Seward in 40 years.

Romano sat down with Reporter Matt M. Johnson to talk about his new role and what he likes to do when he’s not at work.

Related links:

https://finance-commerce.com/2020/02/qa-romano-sees-complex-projects-in-sewards-future/