Growing Destinations

Shaping Minnesota’s Business Narrative: With Twin Cities Business Editor-in-Chief Allison Kaplan

• Experience Rochester • Episode 66

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In this episode of the Growing Destinations podcast, we sit down with Allison Kaplan, editor-in-chief of Twin Cities Business (TCB) and a leading voice in Minnesota’s media landscape. Allison shares insights into her career, the evolution of Minnesota’s business community, and the balance between traditional print and innovative digital content.  We explore how TCB is amplifying its coverage of entrepreneurship, innovation, and the startup scene in Minnesota.

Twin Cities Business
Shop Girls - myTalk 107.1
By All Means Podcast
Experience Rochester, MN

Bill Von Bank:

The Growing Destinations podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Learn more about Minnesota's third largest city, which is home to Mayo Clinic and features wonderful recreational and entertainment opportunities, by visiting experiencerochestermncom.

Allison Kaplan:

I thought there was a real opportunity to do more coverage around some smaller businesses, around bigger, broader topics like leadership and innovation and things that people are thinking and talking a lot about. I just think the way we look at business has changed so much and I think you see that the most with entrepreneurs and it's just, it's cool to be a startup founder in a way that I don't think we talked about entrepreneurship as a career.

Bill Von Bank:

Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast, where we take a deep dive into destination development and focus on a wide range of topics, from tourism and entertainment to economic development and entrepreneurism and much more. I'm your host, bill Vaughn Bank. We're on location at the headquarters for Twin Cities Business, a leading resource for Minnesota's business news. The headquarters for Twin Cities Business a leading resource for Minnesota's business news, and I'm joined by the editor-in-chief of Twin Cities Allison, Kaplan, who leads content strategy across print, digital and events. She's no stranger to the media landscape and I'm excited for her to join us today for a conversation. Allison Kaplan, welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast.

Allison Kaplan:

Well, welcome to TCB, to world headquarters, and I'm just delighted to be on with you, Bill. This is fun.

Bill Von Bank:

We have a lot to talk about and you have such a varied career in media, so why don't we start there?

Allison Kaplan:

Okay, it doesn't feel that varied. It feels like I've been doing this a long time. I started out in newspapers, worked in Chicago, moved back. I grew up in Minnesota, moved back here to work for the St Paul Pioneer Press, spent several years there. I was on the features team. I wrote about retail. I did style fashion, started my own side hustle while I was there and then came to MSP Communications, which is Minneapolis St Paul Magazine as well as TCB. I started out on the Minneapolis-St Paul side and then crossed over to TCB five plus years ago. In the process I started a radio show, which I actually still do. I do a podcast for Twin Cities Business, do a little, you know, entrepreneuring on the side, but fundamentally I'm a storyteller, whatever form it takes.

Bill Von Bank:

And you do a great job with Twin Cities Business.

Allison Kaplan:

Thank you, it's a team effort.

Bill Von Bank:

Well, leading content ideation for a major business publication must come with its own challenges. Can you share your process for developing content that resonates both with traditional business audiences and the newer, more diverse reader base?

Allison Kaplan:

When I joined Twin Cities Business and I had written for TCB before, but when I joined written for TCB before, but when I joined, I think the reputation was that it was about big business, that it was a Fortune 500 magazine and it was for big companies and look, we are a big headquarters. I mean, we have a thriving business community here. So I thought it can be that and it can be more. I thought there was a real opportunity to do more coverage around some smaller businesses, around bigger, broader topics like leadership and innovation and things that people are thinking and talking a lot about. I just think the way we look at business has changed so much and I think you see that the most with entrepreneurs and it's just, it's cool to be a startup founder in a way that I don't think we talked about entrepreneurship as a career when I went to college.

Bill Von Bank:

Anyway, and you bring in not just the business but also the balance of work life.

Allison Kaplan:

Absolutely. I mean, I think you know live through a pandemic and that becomes pretty important. I think you know we were doing that, even pre-pandemic, with certain features on, you know, design and how we spend off hours and kind of getting to know the person behind the job a little more. But I think the pandemic you know, suddenly we were in the kitchens and living rooms and bedrooms of CEOs maybe not bedrooms, but I think that really changes your perspective. And there are just so many key issues today around bringing people back to the office mental health, engagement, culture, dei that these are the things that we know from our readership, that's what they're talking about and thinking about, and so if we can add to that conversation and add perspective and, hopefully, insights, that's what we want to do.

Bill Von Bank:

Well, you oversee both print and digital content. How do you balance the demands of maintaining a traditional magazine while also really pushing the boundaries with digital content and events? You do a lot of events.

Allison Kaplan:

We do. We do a lot of events. It's always on right. I think you know we think of the print magazine is the mothership, that's where it all started. It's important that is, you know we think of the print magazine is the mothership, that's where it all started. It's important that is, you know, kind of that's who we are and who we want to be and everything else kind of revolves around that, but is increasingly a bigger and more important piece of the pie.

Allison Kaplan:

Digital is a way for us, because we are a magazine and we're out every other month. It's really important for us. Digital is our day-to-day, that's our touch point in our interaction and that's the way to stay up and keep our readers informed on both news but also to do what we always try to do is go beyond the headlines. We're not just spitting out press releases, we're trying to put things into some context. So I think we take the same approach with online that we do with print, but we just try to do it more succinctly and much more frequently. We do a lot of guest commentaries, we do a lot of kind of off the news pieces, so there's plenty of room to do all sorts of things on digital and it's just becoming increasingly important. In fact, we have a new product launching in September. Do you want to hear about?

Bill Von Bank:

that. I would love to hear about it. Let's break it here Breaking news.

Allison Kaplan:

So we of course newsletters are important. Newsletters are a way, to you know, remind people hey, these are the headlines, and to you know, that drives a lot of traffic. We have gotten to a point where we have so many different ones that we thought it's time to simplify. We want to be in your inbox every morning with the most important stuff, with everything that we do, instead of just a little piece of it. So we're retiring our briefcase.

Allison Kaplan:

You might be familiar with briefcase which was Tuesday, thursday and then Sunday was an extension of that, with the Sunday primer, and we are introducing the TCB daily brief. It will launch in early September. It's going to be every day, and every day you'll have a slightly different focus. Launch in early September. It's going to be every day, and every day you'll have a slightly different focus people, startups, meetings and events, and spaces and design. So you'll get a little different taste of news and then, of course, breaking news every day.

Bill Von Bank:

The thinking behind that.

Allison Kaplan:

The thinking is that we just want it to be simpler and skimmable. We're increasing frequency, but it's going to be shorter and quicker, and we're putting everything under one banner instead of having you know. Right now we have a DEI newsletter called Forward, we have a StartMN newsletter. We think everybody wants to know about everything. You want to know what's going on, even if it's not your expertise. So rather than having to pick from this menu that was getting really long of all these different newsletters, we're just doing it all under TCB Daily Brief.

Bill Von Bank:

Very smart. I do want to talk about events, because you curate a lot of them. Are they really an extension of the publication, or how do you view events, because you do a great job with them?

Allison Kaplan:

Yeah, and that is really kind of the brainchild of our publisher, shelley Elmore, who you know well and who has really driven a lot of that growth. But we definitely work together and want content to lead, whether we're on a stage, on the website or in print, and so we host a lot of conversations. We have our TCB Talks panel series, which is maybe four to six times a year. We'll hit into equity in healthcare or becoming an entrepreneur different topics. Then we have our big marquee awards programs. But even with those, you come to our Hall of Fame event and you hear these founders of big companies telling their story and you get a taste of what went into that and it's really it's inspiring. We're not just handing out plaques.

Bill Von Bank:

And oftentimes relatable.

Allison Kaplan:

Yeah, hopefully, hopefully. I would like to think that people come and think, wow, you know, one day that's the goal I want to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Of course, as we have more events towards the end of the year. We'll have our outstanding directors in October, we're going to do a fun new startup related event in November and then we always head into the holidays with our person of the year and our TCB 100 big reveal event, which is really fun.

Bill Von Bank:

You've been in the media industry during significant shifts, from the rise of social media to the digital transformation of news. How do you see the role of business journalism evolving?

Allison Kaplan:

So it's funny when I joined Twin Cities Business, the elder statesman, the founders of the magazine, you know I got to talk to Gary Johnson and Bert Cohen and people who were you know were here, and Deb Hopp at the beginning and at the time they started Twin Cities Business because they felt like journalism disliked business and everything was sort of negative and kind of gotcha and looking for issues and they felt like we have an incredible business community and why are we not celebrating leaders Now celebrating I use it in a measured way. We're not the Chamber of Commerce. We don't want to be. We ask tough questions too. But if you come at it from a more positive point of view, that business drives a lot of good things that happen in our community philanthropy, change, innovation. There are some amazing stories to tell and I think that's still our ethos and the way we measure what we do today.

Bill Von Bank:

You've broadened your scope to include workplace culture reporting and, given the changes in how we work today, what are some of the most compelling workplace trends you're seeing and how are Minnesota businesses adapting?

Allison Kaplan:

I think one of the struggles I mean I definitely think we're hearing, you know, more people going back to the office, not full-time, not in the way they were, but I think it's still a challenge and a struggle. You might have seen a little bit of that here at our office today, where it's a Tuesday and Tuesday is a big office day. Today it's hard to find a desk here, but come tomorrow and it might be empty, and so how do you buy the right amount of real estate or rent the right amount of space for that? How do you get teams together and how do you collaborate? I think those are a lot of issues. How do you build a community with younger employees who don't remember or never experienced what it was like pre-pandemic? I think those are some issues. I think the issue of belonging and hiring practices and how do you make someone feel included in a team I think those continue to be really big conversations.

Bill Von Bank:

And of course, in cities all across America, not just here. You're seeing a lot of vacancy space in commercial business and what to do with that, and I know your publication has been covering that as well.

Allison Kaplan:

Yeah, I mean, I just think personally it's. I mean, first of all, whether or not you work downtown or ever did, downtowns are of vital importance. Same thing in Rochester, right? I mean, you know your downtown is your heartbeat, it's your calling card when a company is thinking about relocating or opening a second office. They want to see what the downtown is like. It just gives a beat on what is the vibe of this whole metropolitan area. So we don't want to lose that, we don't want that to go away. And looking at what has happened, I think we're living through a really significant time, and what purpose a downtown serves today, with the way we work, is really changing. So then, what is a downtown, what does it become and what do you do with these buildings? So there are just endless fascinating stories around all of that. Some are real estate, some are work culture, some are design and transformation, housing, all of it, all of it. Some are real estate, some are work culture some are design and transformation Housing.

Allison Kaplan:

All of it, All of it. And I mean you're going through all of that right now in Rochester, which is why we were so excited to write, to do the whole regional section and look at how do you plan? And you have such a unique opportunity to be planning for an enormous amount of growth. Most cities don't get that.

Bill Von Bank:

Staying on the topic of trends, with your coverage of entrepreneurship and development issues, what trends are you noticing in Minnesota's entrepreneurial ecosystem?

Allison Kaplan:

The money's drying up.

Allison Kaplan:

It's gotten harder, and that's true everywhere, but I just think it's gotten a lot more challenging to raise money right now, and so that forces in some ways it can be good. I think it forces some entrepreneurs to be scrappier, to think about why they're raising, what are they doing with that money. But you know it's it's challenging. I mean, we've reported recently on, you know, some promising startups, companies that you know have been division champions at at at the Minnesota Cup that couldn't raise the money they needed and had to fold. So that's one thing. I think the story that has never gone away as long as I've been doing this is why Minnesota doesn't pour more money into startups, that there's a lot of money here, there's a lot of successful companies that have been built here, but people here are more conservative and want to put their money in real estate or more traditional ventures, whereas on the coast they're pouring money into kind of the next, and so we don't have as many big exits here and we don't tend it's just tougher to raise capital here.

Bill Von Bank:

Are you seeing any sector really gaining momentum, though?

Allison Kaplan:

I think AI, if it's about AI. In fact, we're working on a story right now about CPG brands, packaged foods, which should be such a win here, right With all the big companies that we have, and yet that's a place where the money is not flowing right now. And actually talk to an investor who said, yeah, we're kind of done with food, we're looking at AI. So I think software, fintech, places like that, of course, healthcare, medtech you know those places. Those are hot sectors.

Bill Von Bank:

TechMN has been a key resource for Minnesota startup community since 2009. What was the strategic thinking behind Twin Cities Business's recent acquisition of TechMN?

Allison Kaplan:

Yeah, that's a fun one. We don't often get to make the acquisition ourselves. We're reporting on others, so we did. Twin Cities Business recently acquired TechMN. It had changed hands a few times and it was most recently owned by Beta, which is a nonprofit that runs accelerators for early stage startups, and they also are the producers of Twin Cities Startup Week and, like a lot of organizations, they thought it would be a nice extension to have a place to be telling stories about startups.

Allison Kaplan:

But it's tough to do this media thing all the time, and so they had just sort of stopped. There weren't a lot of new stories and we started talking and thought it's a good way to tell that community. There were still a lot of people who know that brand from 10, 15 years ago and introduce them to Start. Good way to tell that community. There's still a lot of people who know that brand from you know 10, 15 years ago and introduce them to StartMN, which is our hub for startups. So you know their subscribers will now get our newsletters and they had some you know deep, well of evergreen content that we can play off of. They also had something we were really excited about a startup calendar of all the events going on and it's really beyond the Twin Cities. It's just, you know, anything related to help founders get? You know, get help, get go to events, get educated. All of those things are on a startup calendar that now lives on tcbmagcom.

Bill Von Bank:

With your deep background in retail and fashion, how do you see the current state of retail?

Allison Kaplan:

Interesting. I mean, look, I think, people still. It's funny. It's like the more it changes, the more it swings back and we see stores opening and we look at what's happening at Southdale Mall. You know, here in the Twin Cities right now getting a luxury wing Wow, how many times have we tried luxury shopping in Minnesota and it hasn't really caught on. So I think things cycle. I think the store is becoming more a branding tool. You know, brick and mortar stores are more about introducing someone to your brand, but the stock and the deep experience is actually happening online. But I think for local companies, for startups, for small businesses, it's actually a really exciting time. I think there are more large companies looking to carry local products and they care about the stories behind it, which is a great entry point if you are a small brand, and I think the number of pop-ups and markets and there's something going on every week.

Bill Von Bank:

You've also made a name for yourself as an on-air expert and radio host. How does your role in broadcasting complement your work in print and digital?

Allison Kaplan:

There are only so many hours in the day, so as much as possible I try to talk about stuff that I know about, that I've written about events that I've attended. Try to make it crossover, but it's fun to keep a toe in the retail world. Certainly retail is an important sector of business. We have some pretty major players here in Minnesota in Target and Best Buy and even having the Mall of America here. So it's fun for me to keep tabs on that and then translate that to the radio audience.

Bill Von Bank:

And give a plug for your radio show.

Allison Kaplan:

It's called Shop Girls. It is on MyTalk 107. And it's every Saturday, just two hours 11 to 1. And of course my co-host is my mother. Oh, how nice. So, that puts a whole different spin on things. Bill, we could do another podcast about that.

Bill Von Bank:

You're also behind the mic on your own podcast, so let's also plug that.

Allison Kaplan:

I love audio and I was comfortable doing it, and so one of the things that we've done in the last few years at Twin Cities Business is launch a podcast called by All Means and we tell the stories behind the brands. A lot of caribou coffee and anytime fitness and big companies that you know about, but did you know how they started? Everybody started small, even the Fortune 500s there. Once upon a time there was a person who had an idea and saw it through. I find those stories endlessly fascinating. I think they're really inspiring to people, and then we try to add a twist where we're giving a little bit of advice too, so that you don't just feel like, oh, why didn't I think of that. It's more like this is what I could. This is a takeaway.

Bill Von Bank:

What's next for you at Twin Cities Business, and are there any new projects or directions you're excited about?

Allison Kaplan:

Well, we're pretty focused on getting the TCV Daily Brief launched right now and making that really dynamic and great every single day, so that's a big focus. For the fall, we have a new event that we're working on. By the time this airs, hopefully, we'll have all the details worked out. So watch for it. But it's going to be called the Stardom and Think Tank and kind of again builds on the best of what we do, which is connecting people.

Allison Kaplan:

We know the advisors and experts. We know the founders. Those founders don't always get to be in the same rooms with the people who have the advice and the money that they want. We're going to bring them together and do sort of a hybrid pitch panel where they share a problem and issue that they're having, which I'm sure lots of other companies will relate to, and they'll get real-time advice from real experts on the spot. So you get to meet some companies, you get to hear from some experts and we bring everybody together in a room to network and meet each other. And those are the kind of events we love, where it's led with content.

Bill Von Bank:

Alison Kaplan. We covered a lot today in a short amount of time. This has been fascinating. Best of luck to you on all your new endeavors at Twin Cities Business on the radio with your podcast, and thank you for being our guest on the Growing Destinations podcast.

Allison Kaplan:

Thank you, bill, it's a pleasure.

Bill Von Bank:

Thank you for tuning in to the Growing Destinations podcast and don't forget to subscribe. This podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Find out more about Rochester, Minnesota, and its growing arts and culture scene, its international culinary flavors and award-winning craft beer by visiting experiencerochestermncom.

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