TAD JOHNSON ANDREW MILLER TAD JOHNSON
Exceptional Businesswomen registration 2A Author does more than just write 2A Nanny-placement business launches 7A
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DATE ##, 2009 JANUARY 19, 2012
VOLUME 30, NUMBER # VOLUME 32, NUMBER 47
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INSIDE BIZ
Another kind of app
FORUM
Happy New Year means that many unhappy new laws will burden businesses and people across the state and nation. PHIL 4A KRINKIE
Appetizers and Android applications bring entertainment to the restaurant table
FORUM
One man’s mission to improve the state’s tax code should be supported by people on both sides of the aisle. DON 4A HEINZMAN
by Aaron Vehling DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
You are sitting at a table in a restaurant, or at the bar of your local watering hole. You place your meal order on a screen that displays high-res photos and videos of entrees and even dietary information for those meals. After you place your order, you switch to your favorite news source, talk to some friends on Facebook or maybe dive into a game of Angry Birds. The technology that allows all of this is a lightweight, wireless tablet computer. A Lakeville man’s company has been bringing these devices to restaurants, hotels and bars, such as the Roasted Pear and the Nicollet Inn, both in Burnsville Dan Medin of Positive Results and Touch the Ad said the devices use the Android operating system (similar to many smartphones), and so they can provide business owners with the opportunity to offer scores of entertainment options. The technology for ordering food via a device at a table is not new, but Touch the Ad’s approach is, Medin said. “It’s limitless,” he said. The availability of thousands of apps for the Android platform ensures patrons access to everything from social media and news to games and movies, said Touch the Ad CEO Telly Masse. Using iPads and their iOS (operating system) was not an option because of the closed nature of the devices. For Touch the Ad to write its own apps for the iOS would have meant overcoming Apple’s highly regulatory app-creation system, he said. Best Buy supplies Touch the Ad with the devices, tablet stands and technical support (via its Geek Squad subsidiary), Medin said. Touch the Ad programs the apps that allow for advertising. Touch the Ad rolled out the devices at the Roasted Pear on Dec. 30. That tablet displays a full-motion advertisement for a national car maker which then gives way to the user’s content. Therein lies a revenue opportunity for a restaurateur or ho-
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CAPITOL COMMERCE
State Sen. Chris Gerlach is among the many legislators who will be proposing bills in the 2012 session. CHRIS 5A GERLACH DAKOTA ARTS
People who love a good read can turn the page on a new book during the Local Author Fair on Jan. 21 in Apple Valley . DAVID 28A HOUSEWRIGHT Photo by Aaron Vehling and photo illustration by Dustin Uran
Lakeville company Touch the Ad has worked with local businesses, including the Roasted Pear in Burnsville, to debut Android-based devices that allow customers to see visual and nutrition information when ordering food and enjoy thousands of apps while they dine, sit at the bar or relax in their hotel rooms. telier. “The advertising offsets the cost,” Medin said, adding that a restaurant owner could actually earn a profit off the advertising on the devices. But the technology opportunities extend
beyond dining venues – hotel guests could have access to all of the technology listed above, but would also be able to access their Netflix accounts and even plug the device into the television in their rooms. See Apps, Page 9A
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Imperial Plastics owner wins chamber award Norman Oberto is Lakeville Chamber of Commerce’s selection Norman Oberto, owner of Lakeville-based Imperial Plastics Inc., will be recognized as the Lakeville Chamber Business Person of the Year during a Monday,
Jan. 30, Chamber Membership Meeting and Holiday Dinner at Crystal Lake Golf Club and Banquet Facility. Oberto purchased Imperial Plastics, a manufacturer of engineered plastic components, in Lakeville’s Airlake Industrial Park in January 1997. Since then the company has
tripled the number of employees as it has grown through the acqusition of other molding companies from 50,000 to 263,000 square feet in five locations – four in Lakeville and one in West St. Paul. “Consolidating the supply base proved beneficial for our customers as we can now offer more support, design and development services
than before,” Oberto said of the mergers. Even during the economic downturn, Oberto and his staff have grown the business and created new applications by converting previous metal components to plastics. “Although the economy shrunk See Oberto, Page 9A
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Norman Oberto, owner of Lakevillebased Imperial Plastics Inc., will be recognized as the Lakeville Chamber Business Person of the Year during a Monday, Jan. 30 ceremony.