Minneapolis paper hires new biz columnist

Lee Schafer, who worked for Twin Cities Business and the Corporate Report before entering the business world, has been hired as the new business columnist of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

He replaces Eric Wieffering, who is taking a management role in the newsroom.

David Brauer of MinnPost.com writes, “Still, Schafer comes packaged with paychecks from some of the businesses he might cover. As with Wieffering (who had a far briefer stint on the corporate world between Strib gigs), readers won’t know Schafer’s clients, but business editor Todd Stone has the list.

“Explains Stone, ‘Lee will not be writing about a client in any way in the next year, a year from when he starts. From that point on, we’ll take it on a case-by-case basis; he will not do a column where there is a clear conflict of interest or a reasonable perception.’

“Schafer won’t disclose his roster — ‘that’s my client’s information to share, not mine’ — but he said a few are well-known to local business types. Global consumer-products firm Johnson & Johnson is one, along with locals IntriCon, RTI Electronics and HickoryTech.

“Schafer is selling his current firm, Sargent Advisors, and will get rid of ‘a couple of investments in publicly held companies in our market,’ he says.”

Read more here.