Patrick Garmoe,
Public Information Officer
(218) 461-9655
garmoe@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A FORMER UWS 2000 GRADUATE NAMED Punsri Abeywickrema has constructed what could easily be the next Ebay, and he's in a competition that ends tomorrow, that if he wins, could bring national exposure to the business, and the Twin Ports.

His business, rentalic.com, is an online site where you can rent items from others, just like you can buy or trade items on Ebay or Craig's List.

He's very interested in bringing this business to the Twin Ports, and hopes to make the Twin Ports a local hotbed of activity on the site. He also represents the kind of businesses that would come to Duluth, if Google came.

He's already won a PayPal competition for his business idea, and is trying to be among the top 25 most viewed videos on a special YouTube channel for the American Free Enterprise Dream competition organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
For information on the competition:

http://www.freeenterprise.com/take-action/video-contest/

The top 25 most watched videos become part of the finalist pool, from which the winners will be chosen.
We just heard about it late yesterday, and the competition only runs a week, ending at 5 p.m. Friday.

The video that needs to be watched by as many people as possible before 5 p.m. Friday is at:

If anyone would like to interview him, Punsri Abeywickrema, a 2000 graduate in mathematics and computer science from UWS, is available for interviews today and tomorrow at 650-787-6034 and punsri@rentalic.com.

We're encouraging everyone we know to join the effort to watch the video, because we believe his success will lead to him coming to the Twin Ports, and will help sweeten the deal if Google comes.

For Immediate Release
Coverage of

March 18, 2010 – All media interested in taking pictures and/or video of the GoogleFest Movie can stop by the Coppertop Church 230 E. Skyline Parkway around 11 a.m. Thursday, or at Minnesota Power around noon. There will not be time to speak with the director, but you are welcome to interview anyone else on the scene and shoot photos of the filming.

These times are very tentative, so to get a better understanding of precisely where filming is going on at any given time, call Patrick Garmoe 218-461-9655.

Director Ken Kemp (see bio below) intends to attend the 1 p.m. press conference on the 4th floor of Duluth City Hall Thursday March 18.

Director Ken Kemp has worked three Olympics as a field producer and on-air talent. He's directed gameshows, a wide variety of sporting events, press junkets, short films, music videos, a documentary of the US Olympic Water Polo team and an independent film starring Antonio Sabato Jr. of the recently seen VH1 show "My Antonio."
Ken is an award winning director for industrial, commercial and infomercial directing along with garnering seventeen other awards of various technical merit. Mr. Kemp is on the cusp of major cross-over success and is currently in negotiations to direct three motion pictures intended for wide release. Ken has a reality series in development and is also an accomplished song writer. His sister, Tara Kemp was an early 1990's pop-music star, releasing two Top 10 singles, "Hold You Tight" and "Piece of My Heart."

Other information movie details: Movie scenes will continue being shot around the Twin Ports throughout the day Friday, and in the Lake Superior Ballroom (city-side) of the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Saturday beginning at 2 p.m., and likely continuing until 6 p.m.

Also occurring in the Lake Superior Ballroom will be GoogleFest, with lots of musical performers and activities, for those who were not chosen to be in the actual movie, or chose not to be part of the movie. Details coming soon on the specifics of GoogleFest.

Parking is free for both events at the DECC.

Patrick Garmoe
(218) 461-9655
Public Information Officer,
Duluth/Superior Google Fiber Initiative

http://www.googletwinports.com

A proposed bill is under development that would require the Wisconsin Department of Revenue in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Revenue, to conduct a study on the effects of resuming income tax reciprocity between Wisconsin and Minnesota. The study would determine the number of residents in each state who earn income in the other state, the total income earned in each state by those taxpayers, and the amount of revenue that would be foregone by each state if reciprocity were to be reinstated. The study would use tax information data for the 2010 tax year and would be completed by the end of 2011. The results would be submitted to the two state legislatures and governors at that time.

This appears to be something taxpayers in the two states will have to live with for the next few years. The last study took place in 1995 with discepancies in some of the currently issued data. While some information from Wisconsin sources show that 80,000 Wisconsin Taxpayers would be affected the Minnesota Department of Revenue states that 33,500 Wisconsin residents meet the filling requirements while working in Minnesota. These differences may in part be caused by students working part time but falling under the minimum filing threshold and other part time workers.

Besides having to file tax returns in both states some Wisconsin taxpayers may end up paying more in state income taxes due to Minnesotas higher personal income tax rates. For example a Wisconsin single taxpayer with only W2 income of 32,000 would pay $1,212 in Minnesota income tax while if they worked in Wisconsin they would pay $1,115 in Wisconsin income taxes. With the ending of reciprocity they would get a creit of $1,212 for the Minnesota income taxes and would not have any tax liability to the State of Wisconsin. This is a very simplified example for a taxpayer without any interest, dividend or capital gains income all of those incomes would be taxable only in the taxpayers home state.

Google Twin Ports is a community-wide initiative led by the mayors of both Duluth and Superior, aimed at becoming one of a handful of locations in the United States for Google to build an ultra-high speed broadband network.

If successful, it would allow residents of Duluth to pay about what they're paying now, for Internet 100 times faster than current top speeds. This would lead to all kinds of benefits for individuals and businesses, many of which haven't even been imagined yet.

For example, a rural health clinic near Duluth could stream three-dimensional medical images over the web, so the patient wouldn't have to drive several hours for an appointment to see a specialist. Students here could join others around the globe in watching a live lecture in 3D. Each person on the network could download a full high-definition movie in less than five minutes.

How fast? Google will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. Google says they'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 people, and potentially up to 500,000 people.

Google's main goals for this experiment are to spur interest in what's possible, if Internet speed is no object. Google wants to test a new way of building fiber networks and create an open network, so users will have more choice in who they buy Interent access from. In addition, Google wants to watch developers create a whole variety of new applications that currently aren't practical to create, due to lack of bandwith.

The initial meeting on the idea organized by Duluth Mayor Don Ness, occured Feb. 15. In attendance were about 12 local IT professionals and entrepreneurs. The team has now expanded to include four committees all tackling different aspects of the proposal, from preliminary engineering of the project, to getting the communities involved.

A facebook group started before the first meeting has already grown to nearly 2,000 members, as of Feb. 17.

Everyone interested in this initiative is asked to show your support:

1. Visit http://www.googletwinports.com and click the "nominate our communities" button; join our Facebook Groups page, and join the Google Groups page, and keep up on the latest news on our blog.

2. Post your own video explaining why you want Google to come to the Twin Ports and how you'd benefit from this.

3. Come to the public events where we'll be discussing the project. Our next one is scheduled for: 4:00 pm at the UMD Center for Economic Development, in the Technology Village: 11 East Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802

The Superior Police Department will hold their annual awards ceremony honoring police officers for their outstanding work and achievements. The ceremony will be held on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. in the Government Center Council Chambers, room 201. There will be refreshments in the atrium of the Government Center immediately following the ceremony.

BusinessNorth to be purchased by area journalists Beth Bily and Ron Brochu; founder and publisher Wayne Nelson to continue involvement.

BusinessNorth, which since 1992 has covered business news in Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin, is being sold by founder and publisher Wayne Nelson to Beth Bily and Ron Brochu, two longtime area journalists who already have close ties to the publication. After the sale is completed on March 31, Nelson will continue reporting in BusinessNorth’s print and online editions indefinitely.

“For 19 years, we’ve been proud of our reputation as the trusted resource for in-depth, no-holds-barred coverage of the area’s economy, business environment and the entrepreneurs who make this region go,” said Nelson, 65. “Today, there are even greater opportunities than ever for more stories, analysis and opinions, and I’m pleased that Beth Bily and Ron Brochu will build upon that commitment as BusinessNorth’s new owners.”

Nelson said that while Bily and Brochu are planning to further enhance BusinessNorth’s print and online offerings, readers and advertisers will notice very few changes in the operation based at 101 W. Second Street, in the Carnegie Building which decades ago housed Duluth’s public library.

“We’ll still have the same offices and same great staff, but now readers will benefit from having two excellent, well-connected professionals covering the business-news beat full time,” said Nelson. “With Beth’s and Ron’s complementary talents related to news management and reporting, advertising sales and their deep knowledge of this region, they’re the perfect team to take BusinessNorth into the future.”

Bily, 42, is currently a reporter and advertising representative for BusinessNorth. She’s a former editor of the Grand Rapids (Minn.) Herald Review, and has also covered stories for the Mesabi Daily News and the Hibbing Tribune. She has completed the Blandin Foundation Community Leadership program, as well as the Foundation’s Editors and Publishers leadership program.

Brochu, 55, was BusinessNorth’s managing editor from 1995-1997 and has continued to contribute stories and columns. He also served as executive editor at the Superior Daily Telegram, city editor and business page editor at the Duluth News Tribune and trade journal editor and chief at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in Duluth.

“Ron and I are excited to take the reins of what Wayne Nelson has made into one of the most respected business-news entities in the entire country,” said Bily. “With Wayne continuing on to provide his insights and great nose for the news, the transition will be very smooth.”

Brochu said his and Bily’s purchase, terms of which were not disclosed, reflect their confidence in the region’s future.

“Beth and I are bullish not only on this area’s economic future, but also on the continued need for this sort of journalism,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to having BusinessNorth play an even larger role in covering and helping influence the region’s business climate.”

BusinessNorth is a monthly publication, including its comprehensive annual directory of business and industry, reaching more than 21,000 readers each month. The publication covers business news across 17 counties in Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin – a $10 billion economy that supports 450,000 people.

The company’s website – www.businessnorth.com – is a creative partnership of radio, online and print publications, bringing daily news sources together in one easy-to-use site. The company’s toll-free telephone number is 800-777-7306.

Later this morning a local print and on-line publication will have a major announcement on its future direction.   Stay tuned.

Superior native Dan Kanninen has been appointed White House Liaison to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Kanninen who currently serves as Governor Jim Doyle’s legislative director will be leaving for Washington, D.C. to begin work with President Obama’s administration on February 1.

According to an email distributed by Governor Doyle’s Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Boyce last week, Kanninen will be working directly with the White House, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and other senior officials at the EPA “to help advance the President’s agenda of creating clean energy jobs and scientific based environmental policy.”

Prior to joining Governor Doyle’s administration, Kanninen served as Chief of Staff to Senator Bob Jauch.

“Dan Kanninen is an excellent choice for the position of White House Liaison to the EPA,” stated Andy Lisak, Executive Director of the Development Association of Superior and Douglas County, WI. “I had the opportunity to interact with Dan while he served as Senator Jauch’s Chief of Staff. I was very impressed by Dan’s ability to comprehend all sides of very complex environmental issues such as the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact and ballast water regulation,” stated Lisak.

“President Obama is lucky to have such a talented person on his staff and Superior is honored to have a native son serve in such an important position,” Lisak said.

Last week, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle introduced his 174 page global warming legislation, which includes policy recommendations from the Global Warming Task Force he convened in 2008. The legislation was introduced in the Wisconsin Assembly as Assembly Bill 649 and in the Wisconsin Senate as Senate Bill 450.

Key provisions of the legislation include:

Renewable Energy Mandates. The legislation increases Wisconsin’s renewable energy mandate from 10 percent by 2015 to 10 percent by 2013. The renewable energy mandate then jumps to 20 percent by 2020, and to 25 percent by 2025.

Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The legislation calls for a “low carbon fuel standard,” which seeks to limit “carbon intensive” fuels such as oil from Canada’s oil sands and corn ethanol. Both fuels are more carbon intensive than conventional gasoline. Wisconsin receives roughly 50 percent of its oil from Canada.

California Car Low Emission Vehicle Standards. The legislation will require Wisconsin to adopt California’s low emission vehicle standards which are much stricter than limitations under the Federal Clean Air Act.

Engine Idling. The legislation will limit the amount of time an operator of a motor truck, truck, or road tractor (truck) is allowed to let his/her vehicle idle to no more than 5 minutes per 60 minute period with limited exceptions. The idling prohibition applies to on or off highway vehicles. The legislation assesses fines for operators who violate the prohibition.

Consumer Electronics Efficiency Requirements. The legislation prohibits the sale of certain consumer electronic devices that use more than a specified amount of electricity in “standby mode”. Violators will be subject to fines of up to $100 for each device sold or offered for sale.

Stricter Building Codes. The legislation will require new homes and commercial buildings to follow the stringent International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The legislation also allows the Department of Commerce to require builders to adopt even stricter energy codes

New Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Requirements. The legislation grants DNR rule making authority to require businesses emitting a certain amount of CO2 to report its emissions to the DNR. After collecting the data, the DNR is required to assess whether the state is meeting its goals, and if not, determine what further regulations should be implemented to reduce CO2.

Levy Limit Exception. Current law limits the amount by which any city, village, town or county (political subdivision) can increase its property tax levy. Under the legislation, the levy limit does not apply to any amount levied by a political subdivision to pay for energy efficiency measures and renewable energy products that reduce or avoid energy costs.

“We are trying to determine what impact this all-encompassing legislation will have on the businesses, residents and property tax payers of Superior and Douglas County,” stated Andy Lisak, Executive Director of the Development Association. “We encourage our members to read the legislation and to contact us with any questions or concerns they might have,” Lisak continued.

Lisak can be reached at 715.392.4749 or lisaka@developmentassociation.com.