That these two pop culture examples are such a shocking contrast to today’s reality where you can hardly smoke in any public places (much less in a hospital), seems to be a testament to how far we have come in our efforts to stamp out smoking and tobacco use.

We might actually think the battle for our hearts and lungs is over and we have triumphed over tobacco. A piece of legislation going into effect this week called the Tobacco Modernization and Compliance Act of 2010 keeps Minnesota kids from easily accessing new smokeless tobacco items targeted directly at them.

The law puts items called “strips, orbs and sticks” behind the counter, categorizes them as cigarettes (based on content) and thus places greater distance between them and our kids. If you have no idea what I am referring to, consider paying for your gas next time inside the station. Take a look around at the colorful packaging and new array of products that seek to build a whole new consumer base.

Their purchase, display and marketing thus far have not been subject to many of the regulations specifically aimed at traditional cigarettes. Big Tobacco saw an opening in the market and attempted to ride below regulatory radar, as these products contain high levels of nicotine, are addictive and can be consumed with little social stigma. ClearWay Minnesota recently issued Unfiltered, a report that depicts the deliberate attempts by Big Tobacco to addict a new generation to nicotine and tobacco products

With this bill, we have managed to barely keep our basic safety regulations ahead of the tobacco industry innovations. That should provide us with little comfort. Today’s industry is not the same as it was in ’73 or ‘82. It goes well beyond Marlboro and Kools to encompass candy-flavored cigars, dissolvable tobacco mints and e-cigarettes.

You may never know your teen or college student has started this habit, because the names and packaging look so… harmless. Visit a convenience store and look around at all of the ads and products. What you find just might shock you – peach-flavored little cigar anyone?

With the Tobacco Modernization Act, lawmakers from both parties understand the need to ensure minimum protections for kids. However, the larger lesson is that the tobacco industry keeps reinventing itself to stay relevant and successful.

This is actually a very good program both for small high tech businesses trying to get started and for investors looking to invest in our state.  I am dedicating this post to share a little more about this new program in the hopes that you can pass along the information to your friends both starting new high-tech businesses and to investors who are looking to add a little venture capital to their portfolio.  Although this is a little different topic than I have written on before on this blog it is essential for us to get the word out on programs like this because these are among the businesses that will become the foundation of the future and continue to allow us to have a vibrant region in which we can build leadership and community.

An investment program like this gives the State of Minnesota an advantage in attracting additional investment in our high tech businesses and increasing the number of jobs located here in Minnesota.  The tax credit removes 25% of the risk for an individual investor and therefore helps to make Minnesota a more attractive state in which to invest.  This program and others currently in place have the potential of helping us kick start the next Medtronic, 3M, Boston Scientific, EV3 and countless other major high tech innovators who call Minnesota home.

Program Details (Investor Standpoint):

• 25% tax credit on invested amount which is refunded via individual income tax credit for qualified investors.
• Maximum credit of $125,000 per year per individual (Given 25% credit a person could invest up to $500,000 per year).
• Minimum investment $10,000
• Total program credits available — $11 Million in 2010, $12 Million per year 2011 – 2014.

Minimum Qualification for Businesses seeking angel investors:

• Be headquartered in Minnesota
• Have a minimum of 51 percent of employees and 51 percent of payroll in Minnesota
• Have fewer than 25 employees
• Pay employees annual wages of at least 175 percent of poverty level, currently $18.55 per hour. Does not apply to business’ executives, officers, board members, 20 percent-plus owners
• Not have been in operation for more than 10 years
• Not previously have received private equity investments of more than $2 million
• Not have been disqualified from investment under Minn. Stat. 80 A.50 (b)(3) Small corporation offering registration disqualifications
• Not have generated more than $4 million in investments that have received an Angel Tax Credit. The Angel Tax Credit is capped at $1 million per business
• Be certified by DEED before investment is made. The certification filing fee is $150
• Committed to engage in technical innovation in Minnesota.  The primary business activity must include one or more of the following:
  • Using proprietary technology to add value to a product, process or service in a qualified high-technology field
    • Qualified high-technology fields include, aerospace, agricultural processing, renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation, environmental engineering, food technology, cellulosic ethanol, information technology, materials science technology, nanotechnology, telecommunications, biotechnology, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, biologicals, chemistry, veterinary science, or similar.
  • Researching or developing a proprietary product, process, or service in a qualified high-technology field
  • Researching, developing, or producing a new proprietary technology for use in the fields of: agriculture, tourism, forestry, mining, manufacturing, or transportation

If this sounds interesting or to learn more information, please visit the Angel Tax Credit Website, email  Angel.Credit@state.mn.us or contact Jeff Nelson at 651-259-7523.

I took to the woods with my ten-year-old son, accompanying six of his friends, and some of their parents to Scout Camp in Wisconsin.  Our kids are Webelos, going into fifth grade.  We joined around 100 other kids and parents (mostly dads) from Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.   I take exception to some of the political views and social policies of the Boy Scouts of America at an organizational level.  I also acknowledge and appreciate the excellent work that they do creating opportunities for real achievement and leadership for boys.   I saw it first-hand: the program was run by young people, who were, um, uniformly competent, as well as “Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly…” and at least eight other things that they aspire and commit to be.  Say what you will – the Scouts teach a time-honored conception of virtue.  It is not an accident that the Scouting movement in the U.S. celebrates its 100^th anniversary this year.

As a kid, I bailed after Cub Scouts, and I wasn’t paying attention during most of that time.  So this week, I felt like I was venturing into unknown territory.  My son and I followed the packing guides, and we got our mandatory training on how to coexist peacefully with bears in the woods (no Snickers in the tent, no how, no way…).

Most important, I decided to be fully in the experience.  I chose to leave my laptop behind, rather than harness my considerable backup battery capacity.  I took an actual vacation from work.  I brought my smart phone, but turned it off while stuff was going on, choosing instead to be a part of the stuff.  We had a great time together.

A highlight was the first campfire.  The wood was blazing, the s’mores were sticking to everything (but none were returning to the tents), and ten-year-old boys delighted in whittling sticks into all kinds of…whittled sticks.

Then some kid said, “Tell us some ghost stories!”

We were thrilled – for a moment.  Then, we realized: we couldn’t do it.  We stared at each other.  All of us remembered a few terrifying climaxes: bloody hooks hanging from car doors, avenged dismemberments, and legendary acts of mayhem committed ON THIS SPOT!  None of us could remember – or spin – a single, coherent ghost story.

The ancient storytellers could regale their campfires with epics like Homer’s Odyssey, or the Epic of Gilgamesh.  I even talk to leaders about the power of storytelling to transform and reinforce organizational cultures.  But, when the rubber met the road, I was NOT PREPARED.  Nobody else was, either.  We couldn’t compose enough plot line to startle a bunch of ten year olds.

So, we grabbed our phones and Googled “Ghost Stories.”   The show went on, but I cannot help but fear that a small part of our ancient and collective soul died on the spot.

I’m not one who is inclined toward “endurance sports.”  But I have gladly tackled each of these challenges after being a part of a much more difficult battle.  Five years ago my wife started her fight against an aggressive form of Leukemia.  Today, after chemo, radiation and a bone marrow transplant, she is cancer free.

Betsy’s fight is what led me to an incredible organization, the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, and one of the most rewarding fundraising programs I have ever encountered:  Team in Training.

Team in Training allows people to sign up for, train for, and participate in endurance events around the world, while at the same time raising money to fight blood cancers.  Participants receive training from coaches and mentors.  They are provided with tools and guidance to help reach their fundraising goals.  And best of all, they are a part of a team where each and every member shares a common goal, finding a cure.

When I signed up for my first triathlon four years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into.  I showed up at my first “group swimming lesson” with a mix of anxiety and dread.  What I learned right away (in addition to the fact that you should never scarf down a plate of pasta right before swimming laps) is that I was joining an amazing team.

Before each practice we gathered together to share “mission moments,” personal tales about what inspired participants to swim, ride and run for Team in Training.  Many of my teammates had personal tales about friends or family members who battled cancer, some successfully, and some who lost the fight.  Some of my teammates were cancer survivors themselves.  Not everyone had a personal connection to cancer, but everyone shared a passion for the cause.

Each of my Team in Training adventures has had three things in common:

1. I finished.  (slowly… and not always gracefully… but I finished)
2. I got to know great people
3. I got to give something back to an organization that has funded groundbreaking research that helped save my wife’s life

Over the next few weeks, Team in Training will hold a series of informational meetings to help people learn more about the program. Whether or not you have a personal connection to cancer, it’s worth 45 minutes of time to check out this innovative program.  For more information, email Courtney Spiegler or visit www.teamintraining.org/mn.   Training starts Aug. 12 for a full or half marathon in Honolulu or Phoenix!

And this October, keep an eye out for me at the Twin Cities Marathon.  I’ll be wearing my Team in Training jersey, with my wife’s name written on the front.  I may not be moving very fast, but I’ll be proud to a part of an incredible TEAM.

There are the obvious consequences:  uncertainty for current students (about 600) and loss of jobs for faculty and staff (130).  In a town of approximately 7,500 people, this has some significance—fiscally to the tune of about $27 million annually.  There are the physical assets now vacant.

But what about all of the personal connections people had to the college and thereby to the community?  My own connections.  It was my parents’ alma mater.  It was where I took swimming lessons, used the reference library, and saw plays on a thrust-stage (modeled after the Guthrie, of course).  As a child, I saw the Queen of Denmark on her 1976 visit and Victor Borge—in person doing his “punctuation” that most kids only saw on Sesame Street.  These memories reminded me of how a place was a powerful part of what made me who I am.

I don’t live there anymore, but I can grieve for the community and the uncertainty the loss of the college will create.  I now find myself living in a neighborhood where issues of place are also uncertain.  A new pending light rail line will determine the future of this place for years to come, and yes, it will change this place.  Exactly how remains unclear, but I do know that some will celebrate, some will fight, and some will grieve because there is, and always will be, power in place.

I am a Twitter neophyte. I follow a group of active “tweeps” who seem busy, not just chatting, but raising awareness and sometimes money for local causes. I follow, Erica Mayer and she runs a “water campaign” in a fun and effective way. I clicked over to read about the organization and person who motivated her to start her charity water campaign.

I started to follow @TCManWalking and got to his website. His story, his courage and passion are amazing. Chris is currently without permanent shelter, or a job. While managing a very severe situation, he created this website in hopes of forming a network of people and organizations dedicated to serving this vulnerable population in the Twin Cities.

His request for water and reusable bottles has been pushed completely through social media. He inspired me to test my network. Do my “friends” and “followers” really have a connection to me? Yes. I’ve been overwhelmed by the support of friends, neighbors and professional colleagues. I am excited to provide some very basic needs to people in our community who are homeless.

It is true you can spend hours on Facebook doing some really silly things. Reconnecting with old friends and colleagues is fun. The introduction to new people, places and things is inadvertently creating a new level of civic awareness. Social Media may be the catalyst that connects people to their community in new, fresh and sometimes basic ways. That is a good thing, right?

Online forums are not new; however, what MPR’s Insight Now focuses on is unique to our region.  According to their website, it is created for people who

• Value conversation with those who hold differing points-of-view;
• Have a passion about an issue and want to share information about it;
• Are concerned citizens who want to engage with their neighborhood and with greater Minnesota.

Caputo is the moderator of the site. By moderating the site he ensures the comments and discussions are concise and appropriate.  Participants must register before being able to comment.  Caputo starts some of the discussions, but other non-MPR individuals have been selected to also start discussions.  Many topics are currently being discussed.  Here are a few examples:

• What’s the glue that holds your community together?
• Women in Minnesota politics: Why the power gap?
• Minnesota’s achievement gap problem

I applaud Caputo and MPR for striving to create civil and informed online discussions regarding our community.  Insight Now and this Leadership and Community blog are somewhat similar but take different approaches.  Insight Now is using discussion to create awareness.  Leadership and Community is providing an avenue for bloggers to increase awareness that could lead to discussion.  We need to hear each other’s ideas and points-of-view. Either way, I encourage you to engage and participate.

You’ve seen them around town.  Metro Mobility buses. If you’ve lived in the Twin Cities long enough, you remember news stories about poor service or budget cuts imperiling service. The general impression you hold is probably neutral to negative.

Since the early 1980s, I’ve been a regular Metro Mobility rider. I’ve experienced the gamut: Bad rides. Long rides. Bad routing. Poor customer service. Bad drivers. Registration mess-ups. Even a class action lawsuit.

Back in 1993, Metro Mobility became front page news as a case study of how not to do systems change. It debuted new providers, new buses, new drivers, new computers, new rules.  Everything changed on October 2, 1993.  And everything failed. The result:  gridlock. Weeks of gridlock. To get Metro Mobility back on track, Gov. Arne Carlson did what governors do in an emergency – called out the National Guard.  I was one of three riders who filed, and settled, a class action lawsuit against Metro Mobility.

It’s hard to live down that kind of bad press. And, riders like myself, have gotten used to using Metro Mobility as a scapegoat. But, I’m here today to tell the truth. Today’s Metro Mobility is pretty darned good.

Perfect?  No. It’s a public transit system – paratransit – and like most systems it has its good days and bad days.  But, little by little, month by month, year by year, Metro Mobility has become a darned good paratransit system.

Transit Team is my service provider.  Formerly, Handicabs, Transit Team is a small company based in Minneapolis’ north loop. When I started working in 1977, before “Project Mobility” served Brooklyn Center, Handicabs’ owners, Joyce and Harlan, came to my rescue, transporting me to and from work for more than a year. After that, Handicabs / Transit Team, became a Metro Mobility provider in its various iterations. What hasn’t changed through the years? Customer service has always been a priority. And, it shows in driver longevity and riders’ loyalty.

My driver, morning and night, is Scott G.  (I don’t even know his last name, but he’s one of those employees that owners dream of.  He’s reliable, dependable, consistent.)  You get to know little things about a person when you ride with them for seven years.  Because of my comments, Scott started watching American Idol, and we regularly talk Minnesota Twins. My cats also adore Scott, and run to the door to meet him in a “cat swarm.”

Oddly sentimental, I got a little weepy a few weeks ago when Scott told me his bus was being retired the following week. Except for routine maintenance, he’d driven 6306 five days a week for more than seven years.  Scott is a man of routine, so I worried that it would take time for him to adjust to a new vehicle.  Boy, did I call that wrong.  He loves the quiet ride of his new hybrid bus.

So, here’s to Metro Mobility. Buses, drivers, reservationists, mechanics, administrators. Keep up the good work. Here’s one passenger who appreciates the ride.

Now, let’s get paratransit service to the rest of Minnesota.

June 10th was the official launch date of the new Nice Ride MN bike initiative across Minneapolis.  It has been neat to see these stations showing up all around town and it will be even more exciting to see how well it is adopted.

Nice Ride MN is the largest bike sharing program in the United States.  The first phase will include 1,000 bikes distributed across 75 locations (700 bikes and 65 locations are already up and running).  These locations include some of the most popular spots in Minneapolis including Downtown, Uptown, University of Minnesota, Dinkytown, Lyn-Lake, Seward, and the warehouse district to name a few.  The program will run seasonally from April to November and then the kiosks and racks will be removed for the winter months.

The program is a combination of a base subscription price and a usage fee.  The subscription prices come in three different sizes — Single Day ($5), 30 days ($30) or a full year ($60, unless you are a student then it is $50).  Once you have a subscription you can use the bikes for free as long as it is returned within 30 minutes to any station.  If you keep the bike over 30 minutes you start incurring a usage fee that adds up very quickly.  For 31 – 60 minutes it costs $1.50, 61 – 90 minutes adds another $3.00 and anything over 90 minutes you start paying $6 for each additional half hour.  This pricing structure strongly encourages users to take the bike from point A to B and then check it back in so it is available for the next user.

With the first week and a half behind it, the biggest complaint so far appears to be the hold that is placed on a credit card for single day subscribers.  When a person arrives at the kiosk (attached to each bike rack) they put their credit card into the machine and get a single day subscription and an unlock code to check out their bike.  At the same time a credit card hold is put on their account in the amount of $250 just in case they run off with the bike.  This hold is released within a week but is giving some debit card users trouble since it holds $250 from their account until it is released.  This is not an issue for 30 day or year subscribers since their credit card information is collected online when they register and then an electronic Nice Ride key is sent to them via mail.  This electronic key allows a user to walk up to any station and unlock a bike directly without having to go to the kiosk.

Overall this looks like a great program that will get us more active and give us the opportunity to see Minneapolis from a little bit different vantage point then we are used to driving in a car.   I have seen a similar program in Lyon, France and it was widely used and enjoyed throughout the city.  I encourage everyone to try it at some point this summer and get a new perspective on Minneapolis.

History and to some degree, the American Way, are filled with moments in time when people banded together to ensure their ability to perform quality work in safe conditions, for decent pay or died trying. In 2001 and today, the nurses’ union is using a powerful, rarely-used tool to make a dent in this larger discussion.

There are 1,000 angles to the conditions and drama leading up to a nursing strike. In 2010, both sides feel they have good reason to hold firm.  Negotiation sticking points, reported to be staffing levels that ensure safe care for patients and compensation for this highly skilled workforce have been negotiated to conclusion in the past.  I am confident they will again.

Nurses, alongside physicians, therapists, pharmacists and technicians comprise tireless teams that really do strive for the most innovative and effective approaches to health care. These professionals care for us and our community every day.  Perhaps we don’t do enough to recognize their unique roles in our lives… or do so only when touched.

Hospital administrators care deeply about patients, the quality of care and their duties to be prudent financial stewards of their hospitals.

Communities need to trust their hospitals, just as they trust the local police force or bridge inspectors.  Members of high performing teams need to trust one another.  This will be a lasting side effect of the current labor issue. While the negotiations around compensation and patient safety will ultimately get settled, we watch unfold the confluence of American values: quality, service and compassion delivered to us and our loved ones when we need it most.  I want to be cared for or operated on in a setting that is devoid of tension, distrust and bitterness.

I send an open request to both sides from the community: Compromise, find common ground and return to the mission of health care, serving patients.

~ Cynthia Bemis Abrams is a guest contributor.