 In October, the City of
Minneapolis received an Excellence in Economic Development Award for its Business
Technical Assistance Program (B-TAP) in the category of Entrepreneurship from the International
Economic Development Council (IEDC).
B-TAP provides business consulting services to support new
business development, retention, and growth. B-TAP works primarily with low
income individuals or businesses that provide employment to individuals from
socially and economically disadvantaged groups including minority ethnic groups
and new arrivals to the U.S.
In 2013, the
City of Minneapolis B-TAP program provided 6,542 hours of technical assistance
and 45 business trainings through 6 nonprofit providers. Over 500 clients were served including 186
start-up businesses. B-TAP providers
helped a diverse client base create 155 and retain 673 jobs; 69 percent of the
program clients were minority-owned businesses.
In 2014, the
City of Minneapolis increased the number of nonprofits awarded B-TAP contracts to
11 nonprofit providers. As of July this
year, 180 new jobs had been created and 176 retained through the program. To
learn more about B-TAP, visit the City of Minneapolis
website.
 Top left: Before building renovation; Bottom left: After building renovation; Top right: Inside of market; Bottom right: Owner Joel Ahlstrom.
Longtime grocer and entrepreneur Joel Ahlstrom opened the Longfellow Market at 3815 E Lake Street
in April with the goal of becoming the neighborhood’s favorite grocery
store. The building was originally
constructed as a Chevy Dealership and then used by Peterson Machinery. With
very significant renovations, the core structure was converted to a grocery
with an old fashioned feel, with aisles lined with warm wooden shelves. Joel and his team then lined those shelves
with a conventional product mix along with a smaller selection of organic and
natural foods.
After a few months in operation, Joel was puzzled that
although the market research he received clearly stated that the neighborhood
need was for a conventional grocery; his staff received an increasing number of
guest requests for organic and natural products. So, he decided to do his own informal
research at community events. Soon, he
came to the conclusion that it was time to go against the market study and
switch his product mix to organic and natural products with a complementary
selection of conventional products instead of the other way around. In August, the Longfellow Market began the
official transition and started to add bulk spices, bulk organic grains,
organic produce, grass fed meats, and other natural/organic products in
addition to their in-house made beef sticks and baked goods. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The full transition is expected to be
complete by the end of November, just in time for the holidays.
Energy efficiency for the store is also a core value of Joel’s. Besides preserving as much of the former facility as possible, Joel also
invested in a significant amount of energy efficient equipment. The building
contains a state of the art heat reclaiming system and a multitude of energy
efficient upgrades such as LED lighting in the highly efficient coolers. He was
an early user of the City’s new PACE program
(Property Assessed Clean Energy) to support financing for energy efficiency
improvements to commercial buildings.
Did you know that today you can walk into ANY restaurant in Minneapolis and order a glass of wine or beer while you chat with your friends or consider your dining options? Before November 4th, that was not possible due to Minneapolis liquor code. With over 80% of the public voting ‘YES’ this past November 4th, all Minneapolis restaurants can now legally serve wine and beer before customers make a food purchase.
This historic charter change not only makes dining at neighborhood establishments more enjoyable for some customers, but it makes it much easier for small restaurants to compete.
How did this change come about?
The most recent push for the charter amendment change started over three years ago when a group of small, brave business owners brought their concerns to the Minneapolis Business Advisory Group. These restaurant owners were struggling to meet the 70/30 food requirement for their business license and complained that they regularly had customers leaving because they felt that it was poor customer service to not be able to order a glass of wine before they made a food purchase. The City knew that it would take a significant effort to change this requirement. It would require the support of the Charter Commission, Minneapolis City Council action, and a majority support of the voting public to change these requirements. It was hard work, but a workgroup consisting of Council Members Glidden, Frey, and Palmisano along with business owners, business association members, and Minneapolis City staff worked diligently to provide restaurants and the public with the information they needed to vote during this past election and now the historic charter amendment has passed.
Officially, the amendment goes into effect on January 16, 2015 however, all Minneapolis restaurants are allowed to offer their patrons wine and beer prior to food service effective immediately.
For more information visit the City of Minneapolis Business Licensing webpage.
Help Minneapolis Plan Arts and Culture for
the Next 10 Years
 The City of Minneapolis is
leading a planning process to think more strategically about how its arts and
creative assets can best contribute to the local and regional economy and
improve Minneapolis’ quality of life. We would like to hear from you about your
participation in Minneapolis arts and culture. You can take a survey by November 21 either online or by downloading a PDF.
Results from this survey will greatly inform the Creative City Road Map, a plan
for Minneapolis arts and culture for the next 10 years.
Watch here for updates and more
information about the process and events, a survey, and what Minneapolitans are
saying and thinking about how the arts and creative activities connect to their
lives.
Minneapolis Selected as Key Launch City to
Support Efforts to Mitigate Long-Term Unemployment
In January, President Obama
issued a call to action – to employers and to communities across the nation –to
help more of the long-term unemployed (with an employment gap of 27 weeks or
longer) get back to work. The Administration engaged with 300 of America’s
leading companies to develop best practices for hiring and recruiting the
long-term unemployed.
Deloitte Consulting, working
with the Rockefeller Foundation, recently selected Minneapolis and Chicago as
key launch cities to support the White House’s efforts to mitigate long-term
unemployment.
In an effort to mobilize key
employers, non-profits, and government to work collaboratively towards reducing
long-term unemployment in our metro area, three handbooks were drafted.
The handbooks are designed
for employers to tap into this talent pool, for job seekers to re-tool their
job search, and for communities to work together to alleviate this economic challenge.
Access these handbooks and
learn
more.
Minnesota Cost of Living Tool
When the Legislature recently passed an increase to the state minimum wage, the question of whom it would affect arose. A better understanding of who works for low wages helps to make policy and inform the debate.
In the insightful “Low-Income Workers in Minnesota,” Amanda Rohrer, labor market analyst, untangles the complex relationship between income and poverty – and sets the stage for Minnesota’s Cost of Living tool.
The Cost of Living tool provides a yearly estimate of the basic-needs cost of living in Minnesota, for individuals and families, by county, region, and statewide. The tool uses federal and state data to examine monthly living costs in seven categories: food, housing, health care, transportation, child care, other necessities, and net taxes.
On November 14, the Minneapolis City Council gave their approval to Code42 for a $70 million two-phase expansion project in Minneapolis.
A Minneapolis-based software developer, Code42, was founded in
2001 and today employs more than 350 engineering, sales, marketing, support, and
operations professionals at its current headquarters in Northeast Minneapolis.
The company—venture backed by Split Rock Partners and Accel Partners—also maintains
offices in London and Sydney, Australia.
According
to Code42, the first phase of the project will involve making additional
investments at its existing Minneapolis headquarters at 1 Main St. SE, to
accommodate headcount growth anticipated over the next two years.
The project’s second phase, pending lease negotiations, includes relocating Code42’s headquarters to the new, eight-story MoZaic
East office-retail complex that Minneapolis-based developer Ackerberg Group
plans to build at 1350 Lagoon Ave. in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis in 2016.
The
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) will assist
the company’s expansions with a package of incentives worth $3 million. The
agency said it will support the first phase of the expansion with a $1 million
forgivable loan from the Minnesota Investment Fund; the Minnesota Investment
funds must be matched by investment by the company. The funds will be
forgivable if all 150 jobs are created at wage levels are met. The funds will be administered to Code42 by the City of Minneapolis.
For
the second phase, Code42 will be eligible for up to $2 million from the
Minnesota Job Creation Fund. Code42 will receive the funding after completing
its hiring and investment commitments in that phase.
 Above: Detached accessory dwelling unit drawing example
Council
Member Bender introduced an ordinance amendment on June 27, 2014, to revise the
zoning code to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) citywide. An ADU – also
known as a “carriage house” or “granny flat” – is a dwelling unit that is an accessory
to another residential structure, with its own kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.
In
August and September, staff hosted four open houses across the city and
administered an online survey to gather feedback on the allowance of ADUs. An
additional open house took place in late October, following the publication of
the preliminary draft ordinance.
The
draft ordinance would make the three ADU types (internal, attached, and
detached) allowed citywide on the same lot as a single or two-family home.
The
proposed regulations are intended to ensure that ADUs would fit in with the
character and scale of Minneapolis’ existing neighborhoods. Follow the progress
of the amendment on the project
website.
DEED Labor Market Experts Are Available to Talk
DEED (Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development) has a speaker bureau with regional labor market analysts who are available for seminars, panel presentations, breakout sessions, briefings and trainings. They are typically free of charge for events that are open to the public or organized by partners in Minnesota's workforce development and education systems. A fee may be assessed to present at closed or for-profit events.
Learn more and schedule a speaker here.
Two New Guides for Job and Career Seekers
Minneapolis Employment and Training recently created two guides:
Apprenticeship Programs in the Metro Area: A guide for Minneapolis residents seeking apprenticeship information.
Employment and Opportunity Guide for Minneapolis Youth: A guide which lists Minneapolis employment, internship and volunteer opportunities for young people.
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