Duluth business owner invited to State of the Union

Dave Benson, owner and chief financial officer of Epicurean Inc. of Duluth, will attend President Obama’s State of the Union address Wednesday as a guest of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Epicurean Inc., which employs 40, manufactures and exports kitchen products and professional-grade cutting surfaces to 45 countries. He recently participated in an export promotion summit hosted in Duluth by Klobuchar.

“Dave and his company represent the remarkable potential for home-grown innovation in Minnesota,” Klobuchar said in a statement today. “Epicurean is exactly the type of small business that can drive our economic recovery, and I hope the president will address the need for greater focus on supporting our small businesses as the engines of job creation in his speech.

One person has been appointed and another reappointed to the Minnesota State Arts Board by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Peggy Burnet of Wayzata was appointed to the board, and Pamela Perri Weaver of Anoka was reappointed.

Burnet is a businesswoman, art collector and community volunteer, and she and her husband, Ralph Burnet, own the Chambers Art Hotel in Minneapolis. She previously owned and operated the Bookcase, an independent bookstore, and Watermark Stationery, both in Wayzata. She was appointed to the board as an at-large member.

Weaver has been executive vice president of the Builders Association of Minnesota since 2001. She has worked in government and public affairs for more than 22 years, including serving as a public policy adviser to Gov. Jesse Ventura and executive director of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts. She has been a member of the board since 2002 and was reappointed as an at-large member.

The board provides grants and services to individual artists, arts organizations, schools, colleges and universities, communities and other organizations that sponsor arts activities. It is made up of 11 members, all appointed by the governor.

The Minnesota U.S. District Court is seeking applicants for a U.S. magistrate judge in Duluth to fill a position being vacated in August by U.S. Magistrate Raymond Erickson.

The magistrate will have chambers in Duluth but will be assigned cases throughout the district, including the Twin Cities and Fergus Falls, with regular travel required.

U.S. magistrate judges preside over initial proceedings in criminal cases; trials of misdemeanor cases; pretrial matters and other civil and criminal proceedings in civil and criminal cases; civil settlement conferences; and disposition of civil cases with the consent of the parties involved.

A panel made up of attorneys and members of the community will review applications for the position and make recommendations to Minnesota’s federal judges. The position carries a salary of $160,080; the term of office is eight years, and incumbents can be reappointed to successive terms.

Applicants must have at least five years’ membership in the bar of the state’s highest court and have been in the active practice of law for at least five years; they must be competent to perform the duties of the office, younger than 70 and not related to a U.S. District Court judge.

The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Feb. 26. Completed applications cannot be e-mailed; the official application is available on the court’s website.

One person has been appointed and another reappointed to the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Barbara Fischley of North Branch was newly appointed, and Dr. Joanne Schulman of Golden Valley was reappointed.

Fischley has been a small-animal practice veterinarian in Minnesota since 1990, most recently as sole owner and practitioner at Kelley Animal Hospital in Circle Pines. She replaces Dr. Michael Murphy on the board as a veterinarian member.

Schulman is a veterinarian and partner at Kenwood Pet Clinic in Minneapolis, a canine and feline practice. She has worked as a companion animal veterinarian in Minnesota since 1976 and has been a veterinarian member of the board since 2002, including a stint as president.

The board, which is responsible for licensing and disciplining Minnesota veterinarians, consists of seven members, all appointed by the governor.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has been named chairman of the National League of Cities’ 2010 Council on Youth, Education and Families.

The council works to help municipal leaders identify and develop effective programs for strengthening families and improving outcomes for children and youth.

Coleman’s vice chairs will be Renee Cariveau, a city council member in Spartanburg, S.C., and Garret L. Nancolas, mayor of Caldwell, Idaho.

Two people have been reappointed to the board of the Minnesota State Academies.

Joyce Daugaard of Edina and Gwendolyn Jackson of Lakeville were reappointed to four-year terms on the board, which governs the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind and the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, both in Faribault.

Daugaard is a grant manager for deaf and hard-of-hearing teacher training programs with the University of Minnesota, and also teaches in the university’s graduate studies in deaf education program. She was reappointed to the board as a public member with business, administration or financial expertise.

Jackson is director of human resources and administrative services for the Edina Public School District. She previously was superintendent of the Faribault School District and worked for the Minneapolis Public School District. She was reappointed to a position for a current or former independent school district superintendent.

The board is made up of nine members, including six appointed by the governor.

The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners is seeking applicants for a vacancy on the Lower Minnesota River Watershed District Board and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Board.

The Lower Minnesota board term of Ed Schlampp expires March 20, and Schlampp is seeking reappointment.

The terms of two members of the Minnehaha board, James Calkins and Brian Shekleton, expire March 8. Both are seeking reappointment.

The deadline to apply for appointment to the Minnehaha board is Feb. 11, with interviews to be held at the next board committee meeting. The deadline for the Lower Minnesota board is Feb. 25, with interviews to be conducted at the next meeting of the board’s Libraries, Technology and General Government Committee.

For more information on the vacancies or to receive an application, contact Yolanda McCrary, 612-348-3257, by mail at A2400 Government Center, 300 S. 6th St., Minneapolis, MN 55487, or on the county website.

Kelly Norri has been appointed to the Minnesota Commission on National and Community Service, also known as the ServeMinnesota Commission.

Norri, of Bloomington, is the service-learning coordinator at Normandale Community College, a position she has held since 2007. She previously was a health extension officer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Zambia and worked at several Minnesota camps. She was appointed to the commission as a representative of community-based organizations.

The commission is responsible for coordinating volunteer learning service programs and administering the youth works grant program and the federal Americorps program. It is made up of 25 members, including 24 appointed by the governor, along with the state commissioner of education and four ex-officio legislative members.

Ann Kaner-Roth (pictured at right) has been named executive director of Project 515, a Minnesota nonprofit that works to ensure fair treatment of same-sex families.

Kaner-Roth has more than 20 years of experience of management and public policy experience, working with nonprofits, foundations and state government. She is the past executive director of Child Care WORKS, a Minnesota-based organization focused on child care and early childhood education, and she most recently was associate director of the Jewish Community Foundation of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation.

Project 515 was founded in 2007.

Two people have been reappointed to the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority.

Michael D. Ranum of Circle Pines and Janet Withoff of Orono were appointed as public members of the authority, which issues tax-exempt revenue bonds to Minnesota nonprofit institutions of higher education.

Ranum is chief financial officer for BWBR Architects Inc. in St. Paul. He previously worked as chief financial and administrative officer for the Hazelden Foundation. He has been a member of the authority since 2002.

Withoff is an independent consultant in grant writing, planning, compliance reporting and special projects. She previously worked as a business relationship manager for Wells Fargo Bank in Minneapolis and has been a member of the authority since 2007.

The authority’s board is made up of 10 members, including eight appointed by the governor.