OF NOTE

Robert W. Mairs

Mairs & Power, a St. Paul-based employee-owned investment advisory firm, announced that Robert (Rob) W. Mairs has been named chief executive officer. He succeeds Mark L. Henneman, who will remain chairman and will retire from the firm at the end of 2026. Mairs is a grandson of company founder George Mairs Jr., and a nephew of George Mairs III, the firm’s leader from the early 1980s until late 2000s. Prior to joining Mairs & Power in 2015, he practiced law for 16 years with Gray Plant Mooty in Minneapolis.

ENTERTAINMENT

Children’s Theatre Company, a Minneapolis-based live performance venue focused on young audiences, announced that Alli St. John has been appointed casting director. St John is a stage director, intimacy director and educator based in the Twin Cities and has worked with organizations such as Children’s Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Theatre Latte Da and others as well as coordinating educational drama programs in schools.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Piper Sandler Cos., a Minneapolis-based investment bank, announced the additions of Joe Kinder and Brent Blevins as managing directors to its public finance team. Both join Piper Sandler from Stifel Financial, Blevins assisting school districts with developing financial plans; he previously was a superintendent for the Forsyth R-III School District in Forsyth, Mo. … Huntington National Bank announced Mike Maeser has been named regional president for Minnesota. Maeser previously was area leader for Huntington Private Bank in the Twin Cities region since 2021.

HEALTH CARE

HealthEZ, a Bloomington-based third-party health benefits administrator for business, announced the following additions: Laurie Gardener, senior vice president of Sales Management and Operations; Sheila Autry, senior account manager, and Dennis McCormack, vice president of sales.

LAW

The Hennepin County Bar Association has recognized the following members with HCBA Excellence Awards: Thomas Boyd, Winthrop & Weinstine, Access to Justice/Pro Bono Service; Debra Bulluck, Moss & Barnett, Outstanding New Lawyer; Yemaya Hanna, Maslon, Advancing Diversity and Inclusion; Christopher Jison, Wells Fargo; Mentoring in the Profession; Jennifer Johnson, Stoel Rives, Mentoring in the Profession; Kathleen Murphy, Service to the Association/Foundation (posthumously), and Natasha Robinson, Fredrikson & Byron, Mentoring in the Profession.

MANUFACTURING

SkyWater Technology, a Bloomington-based semiconductor foundry, announced the appointment of Bassel Haddad as senior vice president and general manager of advanced packaging. Haddad previously was at Intel since 2011, most recently as vice president and general manager of edge device & AI products.

MEDIA

American Public Media Group, a St. Paul-based national radio production company that includes Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media, announced Daniel Doktori as its next senior vice president and general counsel, effective Oct. 7. Doktori joins most recently from British publishing and learning company Pearson, which acquired Credly Inc., where he served as general counsel and chief of staff; at Pearson, Doktori managed legal for several software and associated services businesses.

NONPROFITS

Mendota Heights-based Angel Foundation, which helps cancer patients and their families meet financial needs, announced the addition of Heather Lake as program coordinator, becoming the organization’s first staff member based in Duluth and focused on the Northern Minnesota market. Lake previously served as a hospice bereavement coordinator at Essentia Health Hospice and St. Croix Hospice.

SPORTS

Minnesota Wild NHL franchise announced that Fanatics, the team’s e-commerce retailer for licensed fan merchandise, has signed a long-term partnership as the team’s retail partner, and will additionally assume operations of all physical retail locations at Xcel Energy Center and run HockeyLodge.com.

TECHNOLOGY

OneMedNet, an Eden Prairie-based provider of imaging Real World Data (iRWD) to the medial science industry, announced the hire of Bob Golden as chief financial officer. Golden previously was managing partner of accounting firm Cohen, Bender & Golden since 2015. He succeeds Lisa Embree. … M-RETS, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that operates a software platform for tracking renewable energy sourcing and compliance, announced the appointment of Rob Davis as chief growth officer. Davis previously led public affairs, media relations and federal grant programs for Connexus Energy.

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When Tangie Wilson’s 8-year-old daughter, Zoe, asked to use her iPad early one Sunday morning in September at their home in Bedford, Ohio, she assumed her child had settled into her room or on the couch with the device, so she went back to sleep.

Tangie Wilson’s daughter Zoe was not approached by any concerned adults in Target as she shopped by herself in the store. (courtesy of Tangie Wilson)

She didn’t know that Zoe, who was still upset after an argument with her older sister the night before, managed to sneak out of the house with her mother’s car keys, wallet and ID around 7 a.m. The third grader then drove the family’s SUV — with the family’s dog, Bear, in tow — about 10 miles to Target in an act of rebellion.

“Not even 30 minutes later, her sister came in and was like, ‘Mom, where is Zoe? She took the dog,’” Wilson, a hair stylist, said in a phone interview Friday. “And I’m like, ‘She just asked for her iPad, what do you mean she’s not here?’”

What followed was a brief missing-persons case that involved neighbors, family members and the local police. Zoe, who was found safe at Target nearly two hours later, became an internet and media sensation, leading many to question how a child so young could get herself to the store without hurting anyone, and how she ended up with a Frappuccino at the store’s Starbucks.

Wilson said that her daughter had made a plan the night before to take the car, but that Zoe had told her she did not have a destination in mind for her adventure until she accidentally cracked the iPad while leaving the house, so she figured she would go to Target to replace the case. When she couldn’t determine what size case she needed, she shopped for toys and makeup instead.

Back at home, Wilson and her two older daughters, who are 15 and 11, began searching for the missing child and Bear, the family’s Shih Tzu/poodle mix. When they eventually went outside, they noticed the car was missing, but it didn’t immediately register that Zoe could have been the one who took it.

“She never has done any of this before,” Wilson said, “so it still was not registering that she left with the dog.”

After checking in with the family’s babysitter, who had access to the car, Wilson then called police, who arrived shortly before 9 a.m. Neighbors also poured into the streets to help with the search, and one shared footage from a Ring security camera, which showed the child pulling out of the driveway in the car, leading to her eventual rescue.

Wilson said Zoe had no previous experience driving, beyond playing with go-karts and sitting on her father’s and her grandfather’s laps in the car when she was an infant. Wilson discussed the entire ordeal with The New York Times, including the Facebook post by the Bedford Police Department in which the department claimed to have found the child perfectly safe and having a drink at the store’s Starbucks (which, Wilson said, was most likely purchased for Zoe by the officers who found her).

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.

Q: What was Zoe’s first reaction once she was found?

A: She walked out of the store so normal, like nothing happened. Her response was like, “I only hit a mailbox and it was green.”

Q: Did she really buy a Frappuccino?

A: That she did not do. I think the officers did it to make the story look cute because they thought it was a joke. They remained professional, but they were smirking and laughing. I think it was mind-blowing to everybody.

Q: Was Zoe disciplined or grounded after all of this?

A: No, she wasn’t. I spoke to her and reassured her that I loved her and how I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her and how dangerous and big the situation was. But when we did go places moving forward, if she wanted a slushy from the store, I would tell her no as a consequence.

Q: How was she able to drive your car?

A: I back my car into the driveway all the time, so all she had to do was pull out. But on my street, she has to make a left onto ongoing traffic, and to get down the other main street she was on, she had to make another left into ongoing traffic, which I feel like is a very hard task, especially for an 8-year-old. But I am thankful for my car, because it has lane sensors that make noise to notify you. And it has an automatic stop on it, so if she got too close to a car or tried to reverse and something was behind her, it would automatically stop the car.

I think that helped a little. But I think 90% of it was just her driving off of using go-karts and watching me drive.

Q: Was the car a traditional key-in-ignition type, or is there a button to start it?

A: It’s a push to start. So, one thing about Zoe is she knows her sense of direction. The Target that she was at, she used to go to school down the street from it, so that was a regular commute for us for pretty much half her life and it’s one of the Targets that we shop at a lot.

Q: The Police Department’s Facebook post had a cheeky tone. How did you feel about their reaction?

A: I don’t think it really bothered me too much in a sense. I think because with officers, things can go either one or two ways, so I was just thankful that nobody was hurt. Nothing dramatic happened from it. I think most of my concern was with Target than anybody else.

Q: Can you elaborate on that?

A: Not just Target employees but their customers as well. Just the awareness of people in their own world and not paying attention. Because she was a little girl, she walked in Target by herself with her dog.

She made it all the way to checkout. And I asked her, “Did anybody say anything to you?” And she was like, “No, people just said, ‘Your dog is cute. Can I pet your dog?’” And I’m like, “So even at the register?” And she said no.

Q: Is she taller than average for her age?

A: No, she’s not super tall. She’s about 4-foot-2-ish, maybe a little taller than 4-2. She looks like a kid, she acts like a kid. If anybody was to meet her, she’s the most lovable, sweet, innocent girl ever. She loves unicorns. She loves learning about history. She loves being outside. She loves animals. She gives 8-year-old girl.

Q: What exactly do you think led to Zoe acting out?

A: I had a conversation with them like, “Y’all stop arguing, y’all go to separate rooms, it’s not that serious.” But it really upset Zoe more than anything, I guess. If she was explaining it, it’s more like her being the youngest and having sisters and they’re older than you and she feels like her voice is not being heard and she has to do everything they tell her to do.

Q: How confident was she in her own driving?

A: Where the Target is, there was construction, and she made it through the whole construction zone without hitting any cars, which was impressive to me and everybody that’s familiar with the area. So on our way back home, there was a detour, and she was like, “I didn’t go this way, Mommy.” I was like, “Zoe, how did you turn?” And she was like, “I watched you do it.”

Q: How were you feeling during all of this?

A: Actually, to be honest, I still haven’t had time to process it mentally. And I don’t think I had been home for 10 minutes before it came across my phone that it made the news. Then it was all over social media and my phone was blowing up from everybody. So for me it was very stressful, very exhausting — mentally, physically, emotionally. I could not sleep because it all started with her leaving the house when I was asleep. It was like someone snatched the rug from under my feet. And it was just all these questions — everybody wanted to know who this little girl was and how did she do it.

Q: Has it been awkward for her at school given her newfound fame?

A: Afterward, it was hard because my oldest plays a lot of sports and we go to most of her games and it’s high school, so of course all the kids are on social media. And they know who Zoe is. So for me, that was a lot of stress, because normally I feel comfortable if they go to the concession stand or to the bathroom, but now I have to be on them. I don’t want people taking pictures of them, and the kids were like, “I need to take a picture with the Target girl.”

Q: I’m really glad she’s safe. How is she doing after all of this?

A: Well, the week after that, she was upset about going to school. She was like, “I’m worried because we’re doing multiplication, and multiplication is hard.” And I’m like, “Zoe, did you know how to drive a car before you drove the car the other day?” And she was like, “No.” And I was like, “OK, so just like that with multiplication, you don’t know how to do it but you’re going to learn.” So that has encouraged her a lot as far as her schoolwork.

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With a provisional settlement Thursday on the pay component of a multi-year contract between East Coast port operators and dockworkers, the U.S. dodged a bullet — although once closer to a BB gun than a deer rifle.

Edward Lotterman

Yet multiple economics lessons remain relevant here even if the harm this time was minimal. Some are minor but one presages an issue that will dominate coming decades.

Start with the mundane: That shelves in some stores were swept clear of toilet paper on news of the strike demonstrates how “expectations” can “shift” demand for products.

A “demand shifter” is any factor that increases or decreases demand even if the price does not change. There was no lack of TP anywhere nor was any special sale instituted, yet thousands of Americans, perhaps remembering COVID-era supply-chain issues, headed off to buyers’ clubs and big-box retailers to stock up.

Secondly, near-universal access to Internet-based news reporting and to social media have multiplied the speed and intensity with which information, rumor as well as fact, spreads throughout society. In the 1950s, one might read in a newspaper of a major strike but then read nothing else for 24 hours or more. If panic buying resulted in one area, few others would hear of it until the next day. Chain-reaction responses were subdued.

Thirdly, changes in the structure of the labor force have made union activity rare. The port strike made headlines as much because such actions seldom happen as because of any real economic impacts. In the 1950s, a third of all workers were members of unions. On any given day some strike was in progress in every state or major metro area but few made headlines. Only ones with nationwide effects got much coverage.

Now, fewer than 10% of all workers are unionized. Public employees, including teachers, postal workers and state, county and municipal employees make up the majority of all union members. Only 6% of private sector workers are organized.

One result is that reactions to strikes in the news generally trend negative. A slight majority of the population still express support for organized labor. But there is a sharp split between political parties with high levels of disapproval among Republicans versus support among Democrats.

Another result is that national union leadership increasingly is made up of white-collar workers with experience in negotiating and in lobbying and public relations, but with little experience in work stoppages, let alone on the shop floor.

Old-time labor leaders had done manual labor and had gone on strike in the face of violent opposition from employers. George Meany, who in 57 years of union leadership helped create the AFL-CIO and led myriad major strikes, was a plumber. John L. Lewis, the head of the United Mine Workers, had dug coal. Walther Reuther of the United Auto Workers had led strikes against which Ford Motor Co. goons had more guns than SEAL Team Six.

Such leaders personally understood issues of workplace safety and harsh management practices in ways that today’s leaders who are teachers or budget analysts do not.

Another lesson is that the power to extract real wage gains depends on the importance of a few workers in providing a product or service and the “inelasticity” of the demand for it. Dockworkers and railroad employees have power to shut vital chokepoints, thus quickly impacting millions of households and the operations of many businesses. Street maintenance workers or state income tax processors don’t have the same clout.

Federal power to limit strike activity is the flip side of that. The two most important U.S. federal labor laws are the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, or Wagner Act, and the 1948 Taft-Hartley Act. The first, passed by Democrats in the New Deal era, established nationwide rights to organize unions and to strike. The second, passed by Republicans in reaction to a post-World War II spate of strikes, limited rights granted in the Wagner Act. It gave the president the power to impose 80-day periods pausing strikes if such actions threatened to harm the national economy. The older Railway Labor Act already gave similar powers to limit strikes.

So President Joe Biden could have enjoined the dockworkers strike if it had gone on. The threat to the economy was clear, and went well beyond toilet paper. But such a move could have cost him and Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris support among labor-loving Democrats. However, letting the strike go on, with its inevitable supply-chain and consumer-price impacts, could have cost Harris votes too. With one month before the presidential election, the strike was bad timing for the incumbent Democrats either way. The tentative agreement between dockworkers and port operators on pay and the postponement on other issues into the new year was a political gift to both Biden and Harris.

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The remaining issue in this dispute for dockworkers — and the one with the broadest economic indications, both in theory and in the real world — centers on the degree to which jobs for humans can and should be replaced by machines. With rapid adoption of AI looming over us, this issue has major importance.

It is not a new one. In the 1950s, the hot question was whether trains still needed brakemen and firemen even though air brakes controlled from diesel locomotives had been used for decades. The jobs were cut, but it took decades.

Back then, hundreds of thousands of longshoremen were needed to physically wrestle crates, barrels and bales of cargo out of ship holds and into warehouses. Shipping containers did away with the majority of those jobs in two decades. But we still need crane operators, yard truck drivers and operators of straddle trucks and other machines to shift containers around in storage yards. And there still are humans who open and close gates. Port operators argue these are no longer needed. The union wants these jobs maintained. For now they will be.

Loading and unloading large cargo like locomotives and bulldozers will require humans for a long time. But container handling differs little from order picking in an Amazon warehouse. Operating cranes and the drayage trucks that bring containers to and from the cranes could be done with far fewer humans. In time they will be. The issue now is how long the change will take and what the economic fallout will be.

Mining labor boss Lewis was willing to accept mechanization if job cuts could be accommodated slowly via retirements and with higher wages for the jobs that remained. This worked until the expansion of open-pit mines, especially in Wyoming, killed the market power of underground mine owners as well as of miners. Cargo handling does not face alternate competitors of this sort. Ports will continue to trend to fewer workers.

This involves some 40,000 dockworkers. There probably are 40 million other workers whose jobs in any variety of fields might be done through Artificial Intelligence in a few decades, both blue-collar and white-collar. How this will unfold will be the central economic and political challenge of the next decades. The 30-year move from freight train crews of six to crews of two is not a positive omen.

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

The similarities were uncanny.

A Gopher safety left his feet to make a late interception to seal an upset win in the East end zone of Huntington Bank Stadium.

Jordan Howden did it on an “N” in the Minnesota script to beat No. 5 Penn State 31-26 in November 2019. Koi Perich achieved it a feet away from that, on the “E” to top No. 11 Southern California 24-17 on Saturday night.

Both win-clinching plays resulted in a maroon and gold sea of humanity flooding onto the field turf, creating memories for fans, players and coaches alike. It was the Gophers’ first home win against a Top 25 team since knocking off No. 18 Wisconsin for Paul Bunyan’s Axe in 2021.

“That was awesome,” Perich said about Saturday’s ensuing celebration. The Esko, Minn., native received hero treatment in being hoisted onto teammates’ shoulders. “I was in the middle and I don’t know who lifted me up, but I could just see everybody up on the field at the same time,” he added. “That was one of the coolest moments of my life.”

Jah Joyner, who had a crucial sack and forced fumble in the fourth quarter, watched his teammates and defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere on the sideline.

“We work so hard up to this point and in the offseason just for moments like that,” Joyner said. “I told the D-line that last week, those third and longs in passing moments against Michigan, I felt like I let the team down, just not getting the quarterback down.”

Joyner didn’t need to lament any longer the 27-24 loss to then-No. 12 Wolverines a week ago. On Saturday, the fifth-year senior was credited with three pressures, including another one that resulted in USC quarterback Miller Moss’ intentional grounding before the U took the final lead.

Quarterback Max Brosmer, who tallied three rushing touchdowns and the go-ahead score with 56 seconds remaining, was never a part of a field storming during his five years at FCS-level New Hampshire. After Perich’s pick, Brosmer took a knee to run out the final seven seconds of the upset as an eight-point underdog.

“I had no idea what to do,” Brosmer said. “First guy that came up to me was (right tackle Quinn Carroll). That was cool. We shared that moment together. We challenge each other every single day to be the best leaders we can and to finish a game that way with that team, the way we did was absolutely incredible.”

Carroll — on top of a big hug for his QB — said he will remember interactions with fans on the field.

“Obviously the fans are fun and are coming up and saying ‘good game,’ ” the Edina native said. “We went to work (Saturday) and we were blessed to have a win. Will always remember those moments on the field and obviously after the game with the guys.”

Running back Darius Taylor had a season-high 144 yards on 25 carries. The sophomore paced Minnesota throughout the game.

“Our fans were great,” Taylor said. “We stayed in it the whole game. Even when we were down, they were still rocking. It was great. Appreciate that. It keeps the team going, keeps us alive, keeps us energized.”

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