May 2017
Minneapolis Star Tribune
5/1/17
More than a decade ago, Anna Tsantir, above left, decided to bag a nonprofit-arts management job that was burning her out in favor of cleaning up. She and a partner launched Two Bettys Green Cleaning Co. of Minneapolis. The business was honored recently as the Minnesota Women-Owned Small Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Red Wing Republican Eagle
4/28/17
Four southern Minnesota entrepreneurs pitched their businesses to judges at the second annual Ignite Cup business competition. The winner, Susan Sorensen Langer, founder of Live.Give.Save. in Red Wing, will go on to be an automatic semi-finalist at Minnesota Cup, the nation's largest startup business competition.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
5/22/17
Many small businesses would not have survived without the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers, a neighborhood-business advocate and small lender to about 300 tiny businesses. "We make the loans the banks won't make," says Lee Hall, the group's head of commercial lending.
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 Twelve small business leaders from Minnesota, including Small Business Person of the Year winner Shirley Joann Wikner (left), were honored during Small Business Week earlier this month. The winners were chosen for their success in starting or helping small business in Minnesota and for their efforts to give back to the community.
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Minnesota employers can apply for a grant to help them develop a registered apprenticeship program to recruit, train and retain workers. The Minnesota Apprenticeship Initiative grants target employers in advanced manufacturing, agriculture, health care, information technology and transportation.
SMALL BUSINESS OPTIMISM
Small businesses are feeling confident about the economy, according to an annual survey by Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank. The survey of 3,200 small business owners within U.S. Bank’s 25-state footprint found that 80 percent consider their own business to be strong. In addition, 38 percent of those surveyed reported increased revenue in the past year – the highest level in the eight years that the survey has been conducted. Nearly 20 percent of small business owners feel the economy is expanding, up from 9 percent a year ago. Read a summary of the U.S. Bank survey here.
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