 Left: Patio painting of Le Town Talk Diner, Upper Right: Lake Street Council Staff, Lower Right: Osman Ali, winner of the Lake Street Council's Community Impact Award
Lake Street Council, a tight-knit team of 4
employees, works to attract customers and visitors, recruit new businesses, and
support existing businesses along Lake Street, the longest commercial corridor
in Minneapolis. LSC programs support branding and marketing campaigns and small
business advocacy. After becoming a nonprofit a decade ago, Lake Street Council
began working with the City to connect Lake Street businesses to the City’s
business assistance programs, such as the Business Technical Assistance Program (B-TAP)
and Great Streets programs. For example, the
organization helped the restaurant Le Town Talk Diner restore its historic sign
and brought in matching funds from the McKnight Foundation to hire artists Seitu
Jones and Jordan Hamilton to design a patio seating area with a loan and small grant from the City’s Two-Percent Loan and Great Streets Façade Improvement programs.
Lake
Street Council maintains strong relationships with minority-owned businesses in
the corridor to ensure that their voices are heard in policy decisions. The
organization is making Lake Street more sustainable by providing energy
coaching, promoting transit and bike access, and teaching business owners about
recycling and composting.
On
top of all this, Lake Street Council runs the website Visit Lake Street, which contains a directory
of all of the businesses on Lake Street, giving businesses that do not have the
means for their own website an online presence. In 2012, they also started Museum in the Streets, helping keep the
history of Lake Street alive with informational plaques that highlight Lake
Street’s history and traditions.
 Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton told attendees at the STEP-UP breakfast, "It's not enough to have one or two young people succeed, we need everyone."
On February 2, Mayor Betsy Hodges and Governor Mark Dayton
joined over 250 Twin Cities business leaders at the Target Field Metropolitan
Club to kick off the employer recruitment season for the summer 2016 STEP-UP Achieve youth employment program (a part
of the City of Minneapolis STEP-UP program).
At the event, 100 Twin Cities employers pledged 626 paid summer internships
toward a goal of 750 internships. STEP-UP is seeking businesses, public
agencies and nonprofits interested in employing interns in 2016. Employers can
sign up here
to hire interns until April 15 for the summer 2016 session.
STEP-UP Achieve in partnership with
Twin Cities’ corporations, small businesses, public agencies, and nonprofits,
serves Minneapolis youth ages 16-21 through internships, mentors, industry-recognized
certifications, and work readiness training certified by the Minneapolis
Regional Chamber of Commerce. Targeted
at youth who face great barriers to employment (particularly those from low
income families, youth of color, and youth with disabilities), STEP-UP Achieve
is helping develop a new generation of skilled workers in Minneapolis.
 Top: STEP-UP alumna Bizrat Fekadu accepting the 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award from STEP-UP Achieve Manager of Employer Engagement, Matt Norris; (Bottom Left): STEP-UP aluma Fatima Ahmad telling attendees, "We are capable of extraordinary things. You help us step up and we will achieve." (Bottom Right:) Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges committing the City of Minneapolis to hire 50 interns this year.
 Grand opening of Commons at Penn located at 2205 Golden Valley Road in North Minneapolis.
January 28th marked the
grand opening of Commons at Penn, a mixed-use, transit-oriented development led
by Building
Blocks, Inc. With goals to “rebuild the community, one block at a time,” Commons
at Penn targets households at or below 50% of median income.
The complex contains 47 one to three bedroom
affordable housing units, an on-site fitness center, tot lot, picnic area, bike
storage, and a community space. In addition, the Wirth
Co-op will occupy the building’s first floor by late spring, giving
Northsiders a new outlet for healthy food. Its location has key access to
public transportation, including the future Bottineau Boulevard Light Rail Transitway,
running from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park.
The City of Minneapolis has supported
the Commons at Penn since the beginning due to its potential to achieve city
goals, from providing more access to affordable housing to increasing commercial
activity and services. The City helped fund this project through Affordable Housing
Trust Fund and other tools. The
Minnesota Equity Fund, Minnesota
Housing, and Hennepin County were
also among funders for the Commons at Penn.
Currently, all 1-bedroom and 3-bedroom apartments are reserved, but
there are a limited number of 2-bedroom apartments still available for $895 a
month.
 Calling
all gardeners! It may seem like winter has a
long way to go, but it is already garden
planning time. The City of Minneapolis owns around 60 vacant parcels currently available
for lease for the 2016 gardening season, and starting this year, City parcels
will be available to market gardeners and urban farmers as well as community
gardeners. In addition, insurance liability for these parcels has decreased to
$1 million for community gardens from changes
brought about by the Homegrown Minneapolis Food
Council’s 2015 policy recommendations.
The
City’s Community Garden Program began in 2010 to increase access to healthy
food, grow the local economy and build community. Around 50 City lots have
already been leased, but the City will be accepting a garden request forms from interested groups to lease the currently available parcels until
February 19th. (Parcels still available after the
request process is complete will be available on a first come, first served
basis.) Currently, there are 275 community gardens throughout the city,
promoting access to good nutrition, improving their ecological footprint, and
encouraging active and healthy living. Start planning your garden today!
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 IT-Ready students get hands-on with technology, learning the ins and outs of desktops, as well as mobile and networking equipment.
The Creating IT Futures Foundation, EMERGE Community Development, Mayor Betsy
Hodges, and the City of Minneapolis are accepting applications for a free,
women-only class of the foundation’s IT-Ready career program until March 25th.
The class is part of the Minneapolis TechHire
initiative, funded in part by the City of Minneapolis, with a mission of
closing the workforce skills gap in the high tech economy by building a path
for diverse workers to access training, support and tech jobs across the
Greater Minneapolis region.
The
eight-week course runs from 9:15am to 3:45pm on weekdays until June 3rd
at the EMERGE Career & Technology Center in North Minneapolis. Students
will receive hands-on experience building computers, learning about other
technological components (memory, motherboards, and mobile devices), setting up
computer networks and displays, and configuring operating systems and hardware.
Students also will learn about soft skills, such as team work, critical
thinking, and professional communication. Upon completion, IT-Ready students
will be prepared for the CompTIA A+ certification exam which covers desktop and help-desk
technical support duties and skills.
In 2015, 179 trainees completed
accelerated programs through the Minneapolis TechHire initiative. Graduates
placed in full-time positions received annual salaries averaging $45,802. For more information on MinneapolisTechHire
and to learn about all the training programs available visit the website.
The City of Minneapolis’ organics
recycling program is about to go citywide. Right now, the City collects food
scraps, coffee grounds, meat trimmings, eggshells and many other items from about
12,000 residences for composting. Starting this spring, the rest of the city
will be able to recycle organics too. Residents living in the second phase
areas of this program will need to sign up by February 1 to get their
recycling carts during the spring rollout. Those who sign up after that date
will get their carts in the summer. Residents in the first phase rollout area
who aren’t already in the organics recycling program can sign up now to receive
a cart within a couple weeks.
To be part of the program, email Solid Waste & Recycling or call
612-673-2917 between 8am and 4:30pm, Monday-Friday. There is no additional cost
to participate.
Organics recycling includes:
- All food scraps including fruits, vegetables, bones,
meat, breads, pasta, nut shells, eggshells and dairy products.
- Non-recyclable and food-soiled paper products including
paper towels, napkins, facial tissues, waxed paper, egg cartons and pizza
boxes.
- Certified compostable paper cups, plates, bowls,
utensils, bags and takeout containers.
- Other compostable items including coffee grounds; tea
bags; wood chopsticks, Popsicle sticks and toothpicks; hair; and
houseplant trimmings.
Do
not include: yard waste, pet waste litter or bedding, milk cartons, ice cream
tubs, Chinese food containers, dryer lint, dryer sheets, diapers and sanitary
products, cleaning and baby wipes, grease, oil, Styrofoam, foil-lined products,
non-certified compostable bags and food service items, or products labeled
“biodegradable.”
More Information
The tenth annual Minneapolis Teen Job and Opportunity Fair
is a great, free way to connect with hundreds of promising candidates
(14-19 years of age) for job, internship, employment training, and volunteer
opportunities at your business or organization.
The fair is on Saturday, April 30th, 2016 from
11:00am to 3:00pm at the Minneapolis Central Library located on 300 Nicollet
Mall in downtown Minneapolis.
Become
an exhibitor today!
More
Information
 Images from the 2015 Community Connections Conference
The 2016 Community Connections Conference Planning Committee
is seeking proposals for interactive exhibits from
community and neighborhood organizations, planning agencies and firms and
organizations involved in community planning or engagement.
Proposals will be chosen through a jury process by the
conference planning team based on their applicability to the conference theme
and level of interactive nature. Space in the Village Square is limited to 50
exhibitors. There will be no charge for selected exhibitors.
Deadline: Proposals are due by Wednesday, March
2nd.
Full proposal criteria can be found by downloading
the Call for Interactive Exhibitor form. Click here
to submit proposals electronically.
In 2015, STEP-UP prepared nearly 2,000 Minneapolis youth –
over 90% youth of color – with the skills needed to be successful in a job. Of
those, 1,563 were matched with internships for the summer at one of 230 partner
employers. The interns earned a combined $2.6 million in wages, $1.1 of which was
paid directly by the private sector.
To see 2015 STEP-UP intern demographics, click on STEP-UP at a Glance.
To read the entire report, click here.
In the spring of 2017, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services
(USCIS), which offers 30,000 immigrants per year support in obtaining legal
status to reside, study or work in the U.S., will relocate from its current office
in Bloomington to 250 Marquette Avenue, in the heart of Minneapolis’ central
business district.
The downtown location was chosen mainly because of its
accessibility by both bus and light-rail, but wasn’t the first consideration for
USCIS’s new offices. A 10-year, $14.3 million contract from the U.S. General
Services (GSA) set the original relocation to a building in Bloomington near
the Eden Prairie border, around 3 miles from the nearest bus stop. This plan
drew criticism from immigration advocates and officials, including Congressman
Keith Ellison and Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, who were concerned
that the location would be inaccessible to immigrants that rely on public
transportation.
USCIS’s move to Minneapolis will bring more activity to the
City and make it easier for new Americans to complete the path to citizenship.
Along with helping new immigrants, 60+ employees will work in the new 37,000
sq. ft. space in downtown.
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