 Students attend a class at Minnesota Karate and Fitness. Source: Minnesota Karate and Fitness
Aaron Pallesen decided to start something new; he wanted to
be able to provide access to affordable martial arts and fitness education to
low-income communities. With his years of experience as a successful manager of
a martial arts chain, he opened Minnesota
Karate and Fitness on Marshall St. SE in 2015. Minnesota Karate and Fitness offers
affordable martial arts classes to kids and adults to build confidence and
maintain a healthy lifestyle.
To secure a permanent location for his studio he contacted
the Metropolitan Consortium of Community
Developers (MCCD), a current provider of the City of Minneapolis’ Business Technical
Assistance Program (B-TAP). MCCD
helped Aaron and his business partner acquire a loan for the facility, create a
competitive pricing guide, and create and update their business plan.
Minnesota Karate and Fitness has been so successful with
near max capacity of 50-55 students per day, Aaron is now looking for a larger
facility that will accommodate over 10,000 square feet. It’s been an exciting journey and he is
excited to see where it continues to take them in the future, with of course,
MCCD providing guidance at their side.
 Lee Truer, Career Counselor at JFCS, shares her expertise and commitment to her work with every customer she encounters.
For over 10 years Jewish
Family and Children’s Service of Minneapolis (JFCS) has been providing career and
training services for Minneapolis Employment and Training participants,
including core services like outreach and intake, eligibility determination,
skills assessments, evaluations of barriers, individual employment plans,
referrals, career counseling, wrap-around services, training plans, job search skills,
job placement assistance, and retention services. However, beyond these
services JFCS delivers a unique pre-service assessment that goes deeper than
establishing eligibility and affords a customized experience for each customer
according to their needs. Yearly outcomes for JFCS, based on high rates of
completion, employment, and job retention, demonstrate its success.
In the last year, the agency’s work in the Career Training Assistance
program served 25 people. CTA’s placement rate was 92% and the credential
attainment rate was 88%; both over expected outcomes. Further, their work on
TechHIRE awarded scholarships to 22 students to attend coding boot camps.
Currently 15 have completed, while six students are still in training. Of the
15 who completed training, 12 achieved employment at an average wage of $22.55
per hour.
Looking forward and to innovation, JFCS is excited to offer a new tool
called Interview Stream that will allow customers to work with employment
counselors and specialists to practice interviews in new ways. Interview
questions can be customized and a practice interview can be recorded using any
device that can be used to access the Internet and has a camera.
More information about the many services and programs offered at JFCS
can be found by visiting its website.
 Mayor Betsy Hodges poses with Minneapolis BUILD Leaders who were attending the PARTNERS conference.
On September 16, 217 metro area youth work professionals and community
leaders gathered at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the annual
Minneapolis PARTNERS with Youth conference. For the sixth year, the City of
Minneapolis has supported the convening of youth workers and provided workshops
that speak to the expertise of youth work professionals.
Attendees enjoyed workshops that evoked critical discussion and
reflection on the topics of quality afterschool programming, racial equity,
youth employment, violence prevention, sex trafficking, social emotional
learning, LGBTQA youth, family engagement, and more.
Mayor Hodges gave a welcome presentation that thanked youth work
professionals for their outstanding commitment and vision for young people in
our community to be safe, engaged, and thriving.
The Partners with Youth Conference was sponsored by Minneapolis
Employment and Training, the Minneapolis Health Department, the Minneapolis
Youth Coordinating Board, Youthprise, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency prevention (OJJDP).
 Before and after eyelash extensions. Source: Tweak the Glam Studio
Tiwanna, owner of Tweak the Glam Studio in the North Loop, always had a passion for
beauty and fashion. After years of working in the mortgage and banking
industry, Tiwanna decided to pursue her dream of working full-time in the
beauty industry. She left corporate America and went to beauty school to become
a licensed esthetician. Her dream became a reality when she opened Tweak the
Glam Studio in 2014, where she specializes in eyelash extensions. Tiwanna also
has plans to expand her services to 3D micro-blading for eyebrows and more in
the near future.
Before opening Tweak the Glam Studio, Tiwanna researched business
assistance resources available to small business owners and discovered Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers
(MCCD), a provider of the City of Minneapolis’ Business Technical
Assistance Program (B-TAP). When she
found the perfect location in the trendy North Loop neighborhood to open her
business, MCCD helped her acquire the financing she needed. After a loan, two
grants, and many hours dedicated to her dream, Tiwanna opened Tweak the Glam
Studio opened at 701 North 3rd St. In the future, Tiwanna plans to take Tweak the Glam
Studio to the next level with a new business plan that incorporates additional
employees and services.
 Broadway Flats located at 2505 Penn Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411
In May 2011, the intersection of Penn and Broadway was decimated by the tragic tornado that ripped through North Minneapolis, leaving hundreds of homes and dozens of businesses in ruins. On Friday, September 16, five years later, the intersection has transformed into the Broadway Flats, a new housing and retail project developed by Rose Development LLC. The grand opening event was hosted by Dean Rose with speakers Mayor Betsy Hodges, Housing Commissioner Mary Tingerthal and HUD Midwest Regional Administrator Antonio Riley. Ward 5 Council Member Blong Yang attended the event, along with
Council Member Lisa Goodman, who led support for affordable housing funding for
the development.
Broadway Flats contains 103 affordable rental units including 10 studio, 78 one-bedroom and 15 two-bedroom units, with rent beginning below $600 for studios, $763 for one-bedrooms, and topping off at $1,150 for large two-bedrooms. Amenities include a green roof, balconies over West Broadway and Penn Ave., business and community rooms, shared surface parking, storage, laundry, and fitness facilities.
Approximately half of the 19,000 sq. ft. retail space facing West Broadway will be anchored by Broadway Liquor Outlet. The project expects there will be at least two additional retail tenants to occupy the other half of the space. The completion of Broadway Flats is an example of a plan that turned tragedy into an opportunity to reinvent the neighborhood.
Rhonda Engleman left her job in health care to become a stay-at-home mom. As her children grew older, however, she wanted to reenter the workforce. So, she went to the City of Minneapolis Employment and Training website for information on finding employment and discovered MSP TechHire. Through that, she found the Creating IT Futures IT-Ready program and applied for it right away. |
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Every day of the eight week program was different and exciting to Rhonda. Some days she was being challenged by new ideas from industry professionals and other days she had to disassemble computers and put them back together – making sure they worked. IT-Ready also emphasized public speaking, participating in teamwork exercises, and building relationships with other students, who through the experience became lifelong friends. Rhonda’s IT-Ready experience cumulated by taking her CompTIA A+ certification and receiving a job offer as a Technical Analyst with Medtronic, allowing her to continue to explore her interest in the medical field. Rhonda says that the IT field is not just for anyone that is a math or science whiz, but for anyone that has a desire and commitment to learning something new.
Learn more about the MSP TechHire Initiative and its associated programs, such as IT-Ready.
 Top: The woonerf at Mill City Quarter. Bottom: Mill City Quarter apartment interior.
The Mill City Quarter Apartments officially opened on September 15, 2016, in the
Downtown Minneapolis’ Mill District, providing the area with a new affordable
apartment community targeted at downtown workers and active seniors. The grand opening event was hosted by Brian Flakne of Lupe Development Partners, with speakers Representative Raymond Dehn and 3rd Ward Council Member Jacob Frey, who thanked Council Member Lisa Goodman for
her longstanding support of the project.
Developed
in conjunction with the Abiitan Community by Ecumen, Mill City Quarter
specifically targets seniors (although all ages are welcome). Monthly rates begin
at $763 and top out at $1,150. The first structure consists of a six-story
building with 150 affordable housing units and 15,000 sq ft of retail space and
the second structure will be a five-story senior housing complex with 104 units
of independent senior living and 45 memory care units with below grade parking.
Set on one of the Mill District’s last open parcels of land,
Mill City Quarter contains Minneapolis’ first woonerf, a traffic-calming,
shared and curbless area which gives priority to bicycles and pedestrians. Vehicles
can only travel under 10 mph, making pedestrians the focus of the space. The
woonerf, which has been designated an official part of the Minneapolis Park
& Recreation Board’s bike trail system, will eventually connect the
apartments to the Mississippi River, mimicking the historic rail corridor
between 1st and 2nd Street South.
 Graduates of Cisco IT Essentials at EMERGE
On Wednesday, September 28, 18 students graduated from the
Cisco IT Essentials training course, an introductory IT course sponsored by Minnesota Computers for Schools
and EMERGE, partners of the City of
Minneapolis Employment and Training MSP
TechHire program. 17 students received a certificate of graduation at the
event, and five were honored for completing internships. Students of the course
became versed in the computer hardware and software skills necessary for
entry-level ICT positions.
After earning their IT Essentials certification, 12 students
have moved up to the next step of IT Training, the A+ prep class. For those interested in beginning their IT
education, there are two upcoming opportunities to enroll in Adult IT
Essentials beginning on Monday, November 14 at Neighborhood House and on Monday, December 4 at EMERGE.
MSP TechHire is an initiative to close 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. To learn more about the City’s involvement or
its partners visit here.
 Parkside at Humbolt Greenway homes
Nestled in the Lind-Bohanon and Shingle Creek Neighborhoods,
the Parkside at Humboldt Greenway is a new
housing development created in partnership with Hennepin County, Greater
Metropolitan Housing Corporation and MyHomeSource. It is the second and final
phase of an amenity-rich development that City and County leaders have been
envisioning for North Minneapolis for years. Mayor Betsy Hodges, Council
President Barbara Johnson, Carolyn Olson, President of Metropolitan Housing
Corporation; Bob Lux, President of Alatus; and Danyika Leonard, a current
Humboldt Greenway neighborhood resident, all spoke at the grand opening on
September 15.
This 65-home project will help fulfill the need for
high-quality, affordable and energy-efficient homes, with further goals to
increase the presence of mixed-income neighborhoods in Minneapolis. Starting at
$299,900, these 1600 sq. foot, 3-4 bedroom/2.5 bath homes are close to great
schools, parks and trails, and easy access to downtown via public transit.
Nearby amenities include Bohanon Park, North Mississippi Regional Park and the
New Hennepin County Library opening in 2017. So far, four homes have been
completed, five have been sold and five are under construction.
Click here for more information.
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