GAMING

Jennifer Lauerman

Canterbury Park Racetrack and Casino, Shakopee, announced that Jennifer Lauerman has been named vice president of marketing and entertainment. Lauerman most recently was a partner with Bold North Associates overseeing Taste of the NFL and Taste of the Draft. Prior to that, Lauerman was senior director of partnership marketing for the Minnesota Super Bowl Committee.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

JNBA Financial Advisors, Minneapolis, announced that CEO and Chairman Richard S. Brown has been named top adviser in Minnesota on the Forbes Best-in-State Top Wealth Advisors-High Net Worth list.

GOVERNMENT

Minnesota Housing, the state’s housing finance agency, announced that Andy Pratt has joined as finance counsel. Pratt most recently practiced real estate law at Messerli Kramer in Minneapolis, and before that was with Eckberg Lammers in Stillwater and RBC Capital Markets in Minneapolis.

HEALTH CARE

HealthPartners, a Bloomington-based health insurer and health care provider, announced the election of Paul Williams as chair of its board of directors, Laura Liu as vice chair and Morris Goodwin as treasurer, and the addition of board members Sherri Broderius and Mary Grove.

LAW

The Minnesota Judicial Branch announced that the Honorable Christopher Jon Lehmann has been elected by his peers to serve as chief judge of Minnesota’s First Judicial District for a two-year term beginning July 1, and chambered in Dakota County; and that the Honorable Charles Webber has been elected to serve as assistant chief judge in the First Judicial District, chambered in Scott County. … Moss & Barnett, Minneapolis, announced that attorney April E. King has joined the firm.

MANUFACTURING

Donaldson Co. Inc., a Bloomington-based maker of filtration systems for industry, announced the following in-house 2024 inventor award winners: Emerging Innovator award: Mikayla Yoder; Manufacturing Excellence: Jon Haag; Technology Champion: Gert Willems; Technology Achievement: Vincent Kayaerts, and the Frank A. Donaldson award for long-term contributions: Dan Tuma. In 2024, Donaldson registered 392 new patents and currently has a total of 3,260 active U.S. and international patents.

NONPROFITS

Elder Voice Advocates, a Minneapolis-based organization supporting the policy interests of older adults and their families, announced the hire of Josh Sande as associate director, a new position, effective May 15. Most recently, Sande served as committee administrator with the Minnesota House of Representatives, leading the work of the Health Finance & Policy Committee. … The Minnesota Justice Research Center, a Minneapolis-based organization advocating for change in the criminal justice system, announced the hire of Jana Kooren as associate director. Kooren most recently was with the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and before that the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.

OPENINGS

My Salon Suite, a national retail personal-care franchise, announced the opening of a location at 1341 113th Ave NE, Blaine. The franchise owner is Brian Farrell, who also owns My Salon Suite locations in Bloomington, Plymouth, Apple Valley, Chanhassen and Rogers.

ORGANIZATIONS

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation announced that Whitney Harvey, senior director of workforce solutions for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, was selected to participate in the 11th cohort of its Business Leads Fellowship Program, which trains and provides participants from state and local chambers, economic development agencies and trade associations with resources and networking opportunities.

RECREATION

Seagull Outfitters and Cabins, a Grand Marais-based Boundary Waters outfitter and provider of cabin rentals on Seagull Lake, announced Grant and Christina Hopke as new owners, taking over from Debbie Mark, who is retiring.

SERVICES

St. Paul-based Ecolab, which provides businesses with sanitary protection products and services and also runs several related subsidiaries, announced the appointment and election of Marion Gross to the Ecolab board as an independent director. Gross previously was executive vice president and global chief supply chain officer at McDonalds.

TECHNOLOGY

Arctic Wolf, an Eden Prairie-based provider of cybersecurity products and services for business, announced the promotions of Chris Kraft to chief product officer and Jeff Green as chief development officer.

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EMAIL ITEMS to businessnews@pioneerpress.com.

The Twins this morning placed right-hander Zebby Matthews on the 15-day Injured List with a right shoulder strain.

Matthews, 25, was recalled from Class AAA St. Paul on May 18 and has made four starts for the big league club, going 1-1 with a 5.21 earned-run average. He has fanned 25 and walked eight in 19 innings.

The move is retroactive to June 5.

To take his place on the 26-man active roster, the Twins recalled left-hander Danny Coulombe from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 15-day Injured List.

Before being injured Coulombe had made 19 appearances without allowing an earned run for the Twins. His 16.2 scoreless innings streak is tied for the second-longest active streak in baseball. He has allowed only eight hits, walked two and struck out 19.

The Twins are losing starters, and they’ll have to call up another to take Matthews’ spot in the rotation. The right-hander was filling the role of Simeon Woods Richardson, who was demoted to St. Paul after going 2-2 in eight appearances, allowing 44 hits and 14 walks in 37.2 innings.

This week, the Twins learned they’ll be without their best starter, Pablo Lopez, for up to two months because of a muscle strain in his right shoulder. David Festa was called up to take his last spot in the rotation and was drilled for eight runs in a 14-3 loss to the A’s in Sacramento.

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Edward Lotterman

Economic news for our nation this past week has not been good. In his erstwhile self-appointed role as the fourth branch of government, Elon Musk condemned the budget bill finally passed by the House but stalled in the Senate.

Such criticism by a billionaire egomaniac capable of funding primary challengers to anyone defying his order may not intimidate every senator. But apparently it can scare enough of them to stall the bill — the legitimate flaws in the legislation notwithstanding.

Thus a spending bill that would pile on trillions more in U.S. debt and should have been passed and signed last August for the fiscal year that began in October 2024 still hangs fire. That shovels additional uncertainty onto households, businesses and financial markets already awash with confusion.

At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, President Donald Trump once again blasted Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell over interest rates: “’Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE. He is unbelievable!!!” That gave financial market palpitations worldwide.

The common element for these two events is that the daily lives of concerned U.S. citizens will, indeed, be affected by bonds and bond markets this year. Last week in this space, I gave primer on how bonds and bond markets work. This week, we apply it to the U.S. economy.

At the Capitol, regardless of its final details, the GOP’s Big Beautiful Bill will give us higher budget deficits in the years ahead, not lower ones. To finance these, the U.S. Treasury will have to issue at least $1 trillion in new debt — bills, notes or bonds — about every six months going forward. This will be done in the “primary market” in which new bonds are issued.

At the White House, and at the Federal Reserve, the question is whether the Fed will lower or raise interest rates. But it can only do that by increasing or decreasing the money supply. To accomplish that, it will have to buy or sell existing bonds it owns in the secondary market. More on that later.

Bond markets are open to anyone, individuals, insurance companies, pension plans and so on, not only in the United States, but from anywhere in the world. The Minnesota State Retirement System may buy U.S. bonds previously owned by a Russian oligarch via a bank in Cyprus, by the central bank of Denmark, a Fidelity mutual fund or a myriad of other entities.

Since this market is open to all comers, decisions about the Fed buying or selling in it are made by its Federal Open Market Committee, consisting of the seven members of its Board of Governors and the presidents of the system’s 12 district banks. All participate in deliberations, but when it comes to a vote, only five of the 12 district presidents vote in an annual rotation. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is not a voting member this year but will be in 2026.

Except for the volumes involved, borrowing money by issuing new bonds is about the same for the U.S. Treasury as it is for Xcel Energy, the BNSF railroad or Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Public and private entities have investment banks conduct the sale. Given its size, the Treasury auctions new bills, bonds and notes at weekly, monthly or quarterly intervals to large “primary dealers.” These sell on to other buyers. The auction is structured so that the bidders promising the lowest interest rates get the bonds.

Thus the issuing of new bonds to fund federal budget deficits is straightforward. The Treasury pays out interest due and will redeem the bonds when they mature.

Between issuance and maturity, however, Treasury bonds may be bought and sold multiple times in the open market. This gets complicated, especially as the Federal Reserve may be one of many buyers or sellers.

Interest rates vary over time in response to many variables, including risk and transaction costs, but supply and demand are fundamental. How many people have money to lend? How many want to borrow? The interest rate is the price paid for the temporary use of money — by the U.S. government or anyone else.

That price is revealed in the initial issuing of bonds. If governments want to borrow a lot of money, they will have to pay higher interest rates on bonds in order to find willing buyers. And if many people want to invest safely, but few bonds are available, savers have to accept lower returns.

This leads to some poorly understood outcomes when investments can be bought and sold, but that pay fixed interest rates over long periods. If some owners of such bonds want cash, the only way they can be made attractive to buyers is by lowering the sale price below the face value of the bond.

Return to last week’s column’s contract-for-deed example. Suppose someone has a contract with a $100,000 balance due and paying 6% interest. And suppose that someone wants to cash out by selling the contract. However, other contracts are being offered that pay 8%. The only way the seller of the 6% contract can find a buyer is to offer to sell it for less than the $100,000 due. That will give a potential buyer an effective return on their investment equal to alternatives paying higher nominal interest.

Now consider what happens if the U.S. Treasury is borrowing $100 billion per month at 5% interest on 10-year bonds. But suddenly, China or Japan begins selling tens of billions in U.S. Treasurys they had purchased in the past. And suppose China or Japan offers these at prices that make the effective return on money invested for secondary-market buyers greater than what the U.S. Treasury offers on newly issued ones in the primary market. Regardless of what target the Federal Reserve has set for overnight loan rates, the U.S. Treasury will be forced to pay higher interest rates to issue new 10-year bonds to make up the difference. This effectively takes Powell, Trump and the FOMC out of the equation. Since the market determines the price, it also sets the rate.

And because the rate-setting FOMC has to buy and sell in the secondary market, these high rates trickle down to U.S. households and businesses that are seeking everyday loans. The cost of everything goes up.

That is how a foreign country that owns U.S. Treasury bonds can force up interest rates in the U.S. economy even if the Fed changes nothing. That is the poleaxe Chinese Premier Xi Jinping has over his shoulder as he negotiates tariffs with Trump: effectively, “You can put 50% tariffs on our aluminum and steel, but we can push up the interest rates on U.S. home mortgages, farm operating loans, small-business inventory financing and car loans up a half percent. Or a whole percent. Or two.”

Yes, the Federal Reserve could step in and buy the new U.S. Treasurys with money created out of thin air. But that also can cause inflation. And aside from the obvious household impact, a rising Consumer Price Index would force all lenders to raise interest rates to keep inflation-adjusted returns from falling.

And yes, China might get fewer dollars for its U.S. Treasurys than it paid in purchasing them. And yes, all of this maneuvering might nudge the dollar-renminbi exchange rate in a direction adverse to Chinese exporters. But that change might hurt less than tariffs.

In the real world, this is a complicated problem with more than two parties involved. It is more than just bond prices, interest rates and exchange rates. The key lesson, however, is that as an international debtor, even with a large market and having the world’s reserve currency, like the U.S., is vulnerable to actions by its creditors. This is what Musk and the deficit hawks in Congress understand in opposing the Big Beautiful Bill. But political and economic interests are seldom in sync, especially with a guy like Trump in the White House.

No, we are not Paraguay or Burundi that had to borrow from banks in a foreign currency. No lender can suddenly “call in our loan” or suddenly refuse to renew it. But with foreigners owning $9.1 trillion of U.S. Treasury bonds as of March 2025, of which at least $3.9 trillion is held by foreign governments or their central banks, we don’t have nearly as much leeway as many, in and out of the administration, may assume.

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St. Paul economist and writer Edward Lotterman can be reached at stpaul@edlotterman.com.

By KIM COOK, Associated Press

Home decor’s got a split personality this year: Call it “city glow” and “cottage flow.”

At the two international design fairs that I attended — Maison et Objet in France, Ambiente in Germany — acres of exhibition booths were full of Art Deco furnishings, island-vibe rattan seating and lighting, and lots of emphasis on sustainably produced materials.

But a couple of aesthetics drawing crowds were especially interesting.

Capturing the ‘city glow’

One was an exuberant urban vibe I’m nicknaming “city glow.” It’s full of highlighter-hued throw pillows, edgy surrealism, street art and hefty, Brutalist-style furniture — lots of sharp-cornered steel or concrete consoles and lamps that loomed over rooms — as well as rugs and wallcoverings covered in graffiti-style motifs or swaths of vibrant color.

This image released by Oliver Gal shows Dark Dahlia II 3D wall decor. (The Oliver Gal Artist Co. via AP)

Gretchen Rivera, an interior designer in Washington, D.C., sees it as a look that resonates especially with “younger generations who grew up with digital influences. There’s surrealist art, energetic colors and playful, almost toy-like design.”

Interior designer Anton Liakhov in Nice, France, agrees: “For a generation clamoring for creativity and self-expression, it’s loud and in-your-face.”

For surface colors, look at Benjamin Moore’s spicy orange Bryce Canyon or the bubblegum-pink Springtime Bloom. Daydream Apothecary has a whole collection of neon wall paints for intrepid decorators.

This image released by The Oliver Gal Artist Co. shows rococo-inspired frames in high-gloss acrylics paired with playful graphic imagery. (The Oliver Gal Artist Co. via AP)

Sisters Ana and Lola Sánchez use art as a bold form of self-expression at their luxe brand Oliver Gal, in South Florida. It’s known for its handcrafted, statement-making pieces — including large acrylic gummy bears, graphic surfboards and wall art inspired by fashion, pop culture and modern surrealism. The result is a vibrant, edgy aesthetic.

A new collection, Rococo Pop, introduces rococo-inspired frames in high-gloss acrylics paired with playful graphic imagery. “We wanted to take the opulence of 18th century rococo,” notes Ana Sánchez, “and give it a cheeky, pop-art punch.”

“These frames are like little rebels in ballgowns — elegant, over-the-top and totally unexpected,” adds Lola Sánchez.

The style, her sister says, “celebrates contrast. Old World charm meets modern mischief.”

Following the ‘cottage flow’

The other impressive decor style at the design fairs was very different from the urban look. I’m calling this one “cottage flow,” and Liakhov describes it as evoking a “peaceful sanctuary, where you can play around with textures that are anchored in, and in tune with, nature.”

Think nubby woolen throws in mossy hues. Softly burnished wooden tables. Vintage quilts, and dishware. Gingham and garden florals. Landscape prints. Imagery of birds and woodland animals on textiles and wallcoverings.

This image released by Little Greene shows a wallpaper design called Animal Kingdom Pea. (Little Greene via AP)

Etsy’s 2025 spring/summer trend report showed that searches for “French cottage decor” were up over 26,000% compared to 2024.

“I see people embracing a slower pace to life where they can,” says New York-based interior and decor designer Kathy Kuo about the country cottage style.

“The past two decades or so were dominated by a glorification of fast-paced ‘hustle culture’ — trends like cottagecore and coastal grandmother are evidence that the pendulum’s swinging toward taking pleasure in simpler, more nature-adjacent things in life, whether or not you actually live in a country cottage,” she says.

This photo provided by Kathy Kuo Home shows a room she decorated in Windham N.Y., in the cottagecore trend. (Kathy Kuo Home via AP)

Paint colors are also reflecting the trend. A calming sage green called Quietude is HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams’ color of the year. Little-Greene’s collection has names like Rolling Fog, Tea with Florence and Hammock.

Mixing the styles

Watching design show visitors excitedly discovering new finds among the aisles, I thought THIS is what’s fun about home decorating: You can think as creatively as you like when it comes to your own home.

You’re all about high-octane city nightlife? Come this way.

Scottish crofts, Scandi cabins and cozy porches more your thing? Right over here.

This photo shows cottage-style furniture and décor on display at the Ambiente trade fair in Frankfurt on Feb. 9, 2025. (Kim Cook via AP)

And if you want to mix these two aesthetics? Go for it. There’s space to blend elements of both, says Kuo.

“Design trends are so fluid. I absolutely see the potential to merge these into each other,” she says. “Many city dwellers love time in nature and have an affinity for a more rustic look, while still feeling called to honor their urban environment in their home. I see plenty of modern interior design motifs that are sleek and urban on the surface, but in the details, they’re infused with organic textures and biophilic elements.”

“Really, the best designs are the ones that are personal, rather than perfect,” she adds.

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You could display an array of contemporary glass bowls on a curvy walnut credenza. Mix botanical patterns in vibrant, unexpected colors. Soften room elements like a sleek table and industrial-style lamp with boucle or velvet cushions and a fluffy rug. Pair polished concrete floors with vintage-inspired wallcovering.

If you don’t want to mix elements in one space, consider using sliding partitions from one room to another. You’ll create a little style “journey.”

If the recent international design fairs are any indication, you’re going to find loads of fun home decor in stores over the coming months. Get ready to flow

New York-based writer Kim Cook covers design and decor topics regularly for The Associated Press. Follow her on Instagram at @kimcookhome.