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In the News
Only 1 percent of black-owned tech companies are funded by investors, but Clarence Bethea is beating the odds. Thanks to hard work and life-changing resources, Bethea overcame the investment longshot familiar to most black tech entrepreneurs. He raised $1.7 million in nine weeks for his business, Upsie, which sell warranties and makes them manageable through a mobile app.
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 American Public Media will launch a 10,000-square-foot shared workspace in downtown St. Paul called the Glen Nelson Center. With the help of the Knight Foundation, the center also will house a new business incubator. The Glen Nelson Center is slated to open officially in the fall in the former Ecolab headquarters, at Wabasha and Fifth streets. Applications to be a part of the incubator will start to be made available in March, and work with the startups is scheduled to begin this summer.
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Six businesses in the Mankato area were named winners of the South Central Minnesota Small Business Awards for 2018. Award recipients will be honored at a luncheon May 1, during National Small Business Week, at the Mankato Event Center. The event includes a keynote presentation by author, entrepreneur and USA Today columnist Rhonda Abrams.
Recent Press Releases
 Aquaponics startup Stars Hollow Co. will create 156 jobs and invest nearly $12.3 million to build a new facility in Cambridge. The company, which plans to build the 164,000-square-foot office, warehouse and production facility in the Cambridge Opportunity Industrial Park, said it will raise koi fish and grow organic produce, herbs and fruits. DEED approved the business for an $812,960 grant from the Job Creation Fund.
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Small Business Development Centers Day
 Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) make a difference. They help new entrepreneurs realize the dream of business ownership and enable existing businesses to remain competitive in a challenging marketplace. There are more than 1,000 SBDCs around the country, including nine regional centers in Minnesota, as well as satellite offices.
Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs can go to their local SBDCs for free face-to-face business consulting and training on topics such as writing a business plan, accessing capital, marketing, technology development and much more.
Their important role in helping dreamers, innovators and doers will be recognized during Small Business Development Centers Day on Wednesday, March. 21. Events are planned nationwide, including in Minnesota. Watch this space next month for more details. The DEED website has more information about Minnesota SBDCs.
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Did You Know?
 Minnesota has more than 500,000 establishments that fall under the U.S. Small Business Administration's definition of a small business. They account for over half the jobs in the state, including 60 percent in Greater Minnesota. A recent story in Minnesota Employment Review takes a look at small businesses in Minnesota.
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