Business conditions in Minnesota were on the low end for the the 11th straight month in June, according to a survey from Creighton University.

Twin Cities Business says the report shows the state’s business conditions index for June was 43.9. The index ranges from zero to 100, and an index greater than 50 indicates that the economy will expand over the next three to six months. The state’s May index was 42 and April’s was 42.6.

The survey also found business conditions indexes in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Oklahoma were all higher than that of Minnesota; Arkansas, Kansas, and South Dakota are in worse positions than Minnesota.

Creighton Economics Professor and Economic Forecasting Group Director Ernie Goss said that he expects Minnesota’s unemployment rate to moderate in the coming months and to top out at 8.5 percent in the third quarter of 2009.

“I continue to expect the mid-America economy to be out of a recession by the end of the fourth quarter of this year with job creation coming in 2010,” Goss said in a statement.

Monson Trucking of Duluth announced it will shut down Aug. 31, and 200 people will lose their jobs.

The economic downturn, decline of the paper industry and the bankruptcy of two major customers — both Canadian paper mills — prompted the decision to close the 94-year-old, family-based trucking business, Michael Monson, one of the owners, told the Duluth News Tribune.

The company has 100 employees in Duluth and 100 more at terminals in Virginia, Red Wing and Mauston, Wis.

The closure comes despite recent concessions made by union members, including a pay cut and reduced health coverage. In addition, Globe said 50 drivers had been laid off in the past seven months.

“I’m confused and a little upset that after all we did for them, that they’re closing shop,” said driver Michael Globe, who received company accolades in 2006 for driving 1 million consecutive miles without an accident.

According to the paper: "Monson Trucking is a four-generation family business that started in 1915 in Zumbrota, Minn., with teams of horses and dray wagons hauling freight to stores and coal to homes. Trucks eventually replaced horses and the business grew to include terminals in Red Wing, Duluth, Virginia and Mauston. Duluth became the company’s headquarters in 1983."

These are tough times for livestock farmers in Minnesota and around the country: The recession means people are eating less meat, and there's been a huge run-up in feed prices.

So hog farmer Dave Schwerin of Wood Lake, Minn., expects to lose about $19 a head on the 1,000 young pigs he's raising, says Mark Steil of Minnesota Public Radio.

Schwerin also owns a trucking business and said dairy farmers are hurting just as bad, or worse, than hog producers.

"Milk is unbelievably low [and] I know they're talking about whether they're going to stay in the industry or get out," Schwerin said. "I do feel their pain. Nobody needs to live that life. It's too much work for no reward."

A dramatic rise in the price of feed for the animals is a big problem for hog, dairy, cattle and poultry farmers, said Bruce Babcock of Iowa State University.

"Feed costs really started rising about two and a half years ago because of increased demand for corn for the ethanol industry," Babcock said.

The high corn prices were good for grain farmers but hurt livestock producers.

Then came the recession, and consumers cut back on food purchases.

And for hog growers, it got worse in the spring when headlines blared about the coming swine flu epidemic. While the flu is now referred to as H1N1 virus, many say its association with pigs hurt pork sales.

"Price of commodities, the cost of inputs to your business, what you can sell your products for, all of these are out of control of these smalls businesses that we call farms," said Dave Therkelsen, executive director of the Twin Cities-based Crisis Connection, which has a call-in counseling service for farmers. "And it makes for a very stressful professional existence."

UnitedHealthcare, part of  UnitedHealth Group of Minnetonka, says it is expanding efforts to reduce the number of pre-term C-sections that aren't medically required.

The company says some of the 1.2 million C-sections performed annually are elective and medically unnecessary. Many, of course, are needed, because of fetal distress and other medical issues.

With the support of the March of Dimes. the nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health, UnitedHealthcare is working with physicians and hospitals to improve the health of newborns by reducing unnecessary C-sections that may put them at risk.

“Based on ongoing review of our own data as well as a recently released national research study, we know reducing the overall number of elective caesarean sections will translate to fewer NICU admissions and fewer health complications for newborns,” said Dr. Tina Groat, national medical director of Women’s Health for UnitedHealthcare. “The difference of health outcomes between 37 weeks gestation and 39 can be alarming, and we are eager to get this important message out.”

Said Dr. Alan R. Fleischman, senior vice president and medical director for the March of Dimes: "The simple message is: ‘Please don’t schedule a C-section prior to 39 weeks unless it is medically necessary.’”

UnitedHealthcare has enhanced its Healthy Pregnancy Program Web site, www.healthy-pregnancy.com, and introduced  a  kit and breastfeeding DVD for expectant and new mothers, which both include information for expectant women about elective deliveries, including risks to mothers and their babies for elective C-sections before 39 weeks’ gestation.

DULUTH — In rural areas, it can be difficult for hospitals and clinics to share patient information with each other if they are in different systems. A new partnership will help health-care providers communicate — and save time and money in the process.

"Our service allows doctors to see where medical records are, and it can help eliminate errors; it speeds up care and makes things more efficient," said John Fraser, CEO of MEDNETWorld.com, which provides the service. "The main thing it does for the patient is that they won’t have to fill out all those forms if they change doctors or providers."

MEDNET is working with the Community Health Information Collaborative (CHIC) in Duluth to provide its service to health-care providers across Northeastern Minnesota. If one of CHIC’s members needs to share information with another member, CHIC will use the MEDNET technology to make it happen.

"This will have a real impact on the ability to share patient information," said Cheryl Stephens, executive director of CHIC, a nonprofit that uses technology to find ways to make it easier for its members to share information. "If an emergency patient is taken down to St. Luke’s [in Duluth] but is coming from Cook, in an emergency they could go ahead and look for the patient data."

Stephens said that eventually CHIC will be able to use the service to share the actual patient data, rather than just find members that can share data with each other.

"And eventually it will allow us to connect anywhere in the country," Stephens said. "With all the snowbirds we have up here, that can be very useful."

In rural areas, where most physicians and hospitals tend to be independent, sharing information is a challenge. Long-term care providers, such as nursing homes, can also become members of CHIC and use the services to improve efficiency. Fraser said new doctors are more attracted to systems that are automated, and if a rural health-care provider has that automation, it’s another selling point to draw new doctors in.

The service is required by state law to offer an opt-out for patients, and is protected by security protocols that are mandated by the federal government and similar to what the U.S. military uses, Fraser said.

"We don’t store the information; we’re not a big database," Fraser said. "We make sure a patient’s information stays with a doctor."

Credit watchdogs and an Illinois congressman are questioning the formula used by Minneapolis-based FICO to calculate credit scores for millions of consumers.

Bloomberg reports that banks arbitrarily cut spending limits for at least 30 million Americans in the second half of 2008. That means many are borrowing a higher percent of their available credit, which hurts FICO scores.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., says FICO's formula is flawed because the credit-limit reductions don't reflect anything about the individual's risk. And a U.S. PIRG officials also questions the score's accuracy.

FICO CEO Mark Greene defends the company's methods: "It’s not obvious to me that having the score change because of limit cuts is the wrong thing. The bank’s action may signal a riskier environment and the view that you are a riskier consumer."

Famous Dave's is getting licked by the economy.

The company was hoping catering orders for graduation parties and other summer get-togethers might keep it cooking this time of year.

But sales aren't meeting expectations.

“The operating environment continues to be very difficult as the graduation and summer bar-b-que season to date hasn’t delivered the sales improvement that we had hoped for," Famous Dave's CEO Christopher O’Donnell said in the company's statement today.

The restaurant chain also announced several housekeeping items to its shareholders. It recently paid off $4.2 million in long-term debt, and has negotiated lease terminations for two restaurants in Atlanta.

Famous Dave's also said it plans to open nine to 11 new franchise restaurants this year, more than the eight to 10 previously anticipated.

Americans are eating in more often, and that continues to be great news for Golden Valley-based General Mills.

The company reported today that its fourth-quarter profits nearly doubled, compared with a year ago, with net earnings up 94 percent.

Whether we're microwaving pizza rolls (Totino's and other frozen product sales up 12 percent for the year) or getting ambitous by making pancakes (Bisquick and other baking products up 18 percent for the year), our changing habits are helping General Mills.

Overall, sales for the year were up 8 percent, but the company's profit was only slightly higher because of increased costs.

“In today’s very challenging economic environment, our leading food brands offer the quality, convenience and value that consumers are looking for and, as a result, our businesses are showing strong growth," CEO Ken Powell said in the company's statement.

For years, labor groups and others have blasted Wal-Mart for its stingy employee benefits, including making its low-income workers wait up to two years for costly insurance premiums.

But today, Wal-Mart President and CEO Mike Duke co-signed a letter — along with the heads of the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress — supporting a proposal for a mandate on employers to provide insurance coverage for their workforces, the Associated Press reported.

In the letter [pdf] addressed to President Obama, Duke and the others ask for an employer mandate that is "fair and broad in its coverage."

Wal-Mart is the nation’s largest private employer, and SEIU — with more than 1 million members — has been a persistent critic. The retailer says 94 percent of its employees now are insured either by the company or a relative.

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

"We believe payment reform and efficiency initiatives need to be at the center of healthcare reform. The President and the Congress have put forward good ideas to improve the productivity of our health care sector. These policies need to be strengthened and adopted because health care reform without controlling costs is no reform at all.

"We are for shared responsibility. Not every business can make the same contribution, but everyone must make some contribution. We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage, but any alternative to an employer mandate should not create barriers to hiring entry level employees. We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to develop a requirement that is both sensible and equitable."

According to AP, the letter "could give a push to two efforts: Wal-Mart's bid to improve its image regarding worker treatment, and Obama's plan to change the nation's health care system, including insuring virtually all Americans and controlling costs."

The green economy may one day involve a lot of blue shirts.

GreenBiz.com's Joel Makower has an interesting article about Best Buy's potential gain from a greener, more energy-efficient future.

Addressing climate change is going to require the help of electronic gizmos -- from smarter appliances to in-home wind and solar generators. It isn't a stretch to see how Best Buy could play a key role in helping people buy and install cleantech, smart-grid products.

Best Buy is entering the electric vehicle market this month on the West Coast, selling a line of high-tech electric motorcycles. That could be a bridge to other electric vehicles, Makower speculates.

"It's a compelling story line, to be sure, but equally important is that it illustrates the potential for incumbent companies to be key players in advancing green technology."