Current Issue Cover


[cover story]
Man with a plan

Three years ago, when Alberto Monserrate was pounding the pavement selling advertising for small Latino publications in Minnesota, many big advertisers were laughing.

?They couldn?t help themselves,? says Monserrate, president and CEO of Latino Communications Network (LCN Media) in Minneapolis. ?They?d say, ?Hispanics in Minnesota? You gotta be kidding.? They didn?t deem it necessary to advertise to what they thought was a tiny market.?

That, however, was before the release of the 2000 census, which showed the explosion in Minnesota?s Hispanic/Latino population.

?I realized what most people didn?t at that time, how fast the Latino community was growing,? says Puerto Rican-born Monserrate, 37. ?I would drive down Lake Street, and I could see that every week more Latinos were moving in and more businesses were opening.?

[letter from the editor]
[back page]
[focus]
Q&A: Line by line

How small-business owners can conquer telecom bills

Tech Audits: The fix

How four firms found tech salvation

Cambridge Community Spotlight: Critical mass

Cambridge leaders add services to give people reason to stay

Cambridge Community Spotlight: Behind the scenes

Resources in Cambridge belie size of city



[business builder]
Money

Regulation D offers shortcut to public markets for capital

Management

When branching out, start search close to home

Networking

Making friends takes the work out of networking

Technology

Web site worth more if they're changed regularly

[informer]
Retail

After closing boutique, pair start ?entertainment? firm as different way to sell fashion

Venture Capital

Panelists speak mind about perils of VC funding

R&D

Padilla Speer Beardsley joins forces with 4 agencies to develop new products

Marketing

Informal messages, um, mark new breed of (cough, cough) telemarketing pitches

Franchising

For-profit clinics deliver medical care in Africa, as Western-style operating arm of non-profit foundation

Office Equipment

U of M?s ReUse Program sells used office furniture for rock-bottom prices

Branding

?MinuteClinic? name change marks start of national expansion

Dear Informer

QuickMedX plans to open its first outlet outside of Minnesota early next year, and in October changed its name to MinuteClinic to coincide with the growth spurt.

2-minute meeting

Adventurer Ann Bancroft headlines WomenVenture 25th anniversary bash

[toolkit]
Meetings and event centers

Personality counts when choosing
venue for meetings

[upsize e-tools tips]

"Business owners should always have a plan B, C and D for raising cash. If you rely on one source, and it does not, will not or cannot provide the cash you need when you need it, always know where you will turn.

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