MN Housing Partnership’s County Profiles have been a key source of housing information for advocates, elected officials, and the media since 2009.  These County Housing Profiles serve as a valuable guide to understanding Minnesota’s community and housing needs, and provide compelling data that makes the case for the critical need for  housing investments. The new 2023 data features different demographics of cost-burdened households paying at least 30% of their income for housing, changes in rent and home prices, eviction filings compared to pre-pandemic rates, racial disparities in homeownership, a comparison of top in-demand wages compared to current housing costs, and more. Continue Reading

If you're considering starting a business, each step requires a solid plan and each step is important. The better organized you are, the firmer the foundation you will create for your new company to be built upon.  Think of your business plan as a navigational tool to guide you on your journey through each stage of starting your business. Continue Reading

An increasingly popular and growing opportunity for agricultural producers is agritourism. This is generally defined as activities that include visiting a working farm or any agricultural, horticultural or agribusiness operation to enjoy the rural setting, be educated, or be involved in a special activity. 

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The Minnesota Rural Broadband Coalition is conducting a statewide crowd-sourced internet speed testing initiative. The goal of this project is to create an accurate statewide map of where internet service is available and what speeds people are currently receiving. 

The test takes less than 30 seconds to complete and can be taken on any internet-connected device. No personal information will be collected from taking the speed test.

Click here to take the Test!

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Press Release: September 30, 2020

Pivoting: it’s becoming the new dance step of 2020. Southeast Service Cooperative (SSC) has teamed up with 41 community organizations, schools, and local businesses and are pleased to announce a pivot to a virtual event for Southeast Manufacturing Week. This event is designed to give exposure to middle school and high school students to careers in the manufacturing field in an effort to cultivate students’ passion in this industry for regional long-term economic sustainability.

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What is the COVID-19 Housing Assistnace Program? Click on the article to learn more about this new program from MN Housing.
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It is expected a $484 billion package will be approved Friday April 24^th to replenish Small Business Administration programs aimed at helping small businesses weather the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy. New funding for the SBA programs is expected to be as follows:

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The CARES Act was passed by Congress on the evening of March 26^th. This blog article aims to briefly describe some of the programs and initiatives created through the Act with respect to economic relief for small business.

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The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is creating a new Small Business Emergency Loan Program to provide financial assistance to thousands of businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 situation. Please continue reading to learn more. 

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The SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program is now open to small businesses in Minnesota. The program offers low-interest disaster loans to help businesses recover from the adverse effects of COVID-19. Online loan training seminars have already been scheduled for this weekend (March 21-22), with more trainings to come in the following weeks. Further information is provided in this article.

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The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are working together to activate the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) to provide assistance to businesses and non-profits adversely impacted by COVID-19.

The first step in this process requires 1 business from every county in Minnesota to fill out the survey. With this in mind, DEED does not need an abundance of responses to the survey. If you are able, please fill out the survey by the end of this week and email your responses to economic.development@state.mn.us. 

For more information and to stay up to date on the progress towards activating EIDL, please visit this webpage on DEED’s website. 

FutureForward is a networking tool designed to facilitate in-depth connections between students, educators, and local business professionals. Developed by Southeast Service Cooperative, FutureForward is a regionally sourced initiative created to address issues of workforce development, attraction, and retention. FutureForward will be piloted by high school students this spring with a full launch scheduled for the Fall of 2020.

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The Harvest Entrepreneur Network (HEN) is a new program in the State of Minnesota, led by Community and Economic Development Associates (CEDA). HEN is looking to recruit approximately 40 agriculturally focused entrepreneurs as well as entrepreneurs from underserved populations (including women, minorities, veterans, people with disabilities, and non-binary individuals). The program is free, and all are welcome to apply. Applications will be reviewed on a bi-weekly basis through the March 6th, 2020 deadline.  Continue Reading

Perhaps you’ve already heard of it, but what is “business succession” and why is it important? As a business owner, maybe you’ve thought your future outside of work– but what about the future of your business without you?

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One of the most important decisions to make when starting a business is which type of organizational structure will form your business.  This decision will not only impact the ever so obvious tax implications you face, it will determine your personal liability as the operator as well.   

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The most common cause of failure with new businesses is either a lack of know-how or a lack of capital. Of all the new businesses in Minnesota that started in 2012, 57% of them are still in operation. According to the U.S Bureau of statistics Minnesota has one of the highest survival rates in the nation. The national five-year survival rate is around 50%. 

A key component to ensure the vitality of a business is “business planning”. A business plan is a vital component for any organization; it can provide the business operational direction with respect to marketing, finances, objectives, and strategies to make the business successful. A good business plans assists entrepreneurs as they navigate or avoid short- and long-term obstacles to their business.

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Contrary to popular belief, starting a business is not as easy as buying a pair of shoes and should be carefully planned and considered.  The most important piece to that plan is determining what kind of business to start.

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Many communities across Greater Minnesota are challenged with fulfilling their housing needs.  In an effort to remain proactive and strategic, many Dodge County communities are taking steps to conduct comprehensive housing studies.  The primary objective of these studies is to assist in determining each community’s housing deficits.  They will provide a detailed analysis that will identify current and future housing needs in the community and help decision makers develop a greater understanding of the housing market. Continue Reading

In today's world, society has a growing  "go, go, go" mentality.  With this mentality ways of communication are constantly changing.  Whether trying to bring awareness or attract attention, we are forced to think "out of the box" on how to deliver our message. Continue Reading