Innovation + Job News

St. Paul-based LocaLoop is reaching across the globe--to Israel--to bring 4G broadband internet to rural and under-served areas of the Midwest.

LocaLoop announced last week a strategic marketing and technology agreement with the Israel-based network hardware firm Runcom. LocaLoop's cloud technology business management Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, called aLoopNET, will be deployed using Runcom equipment.

LocaLoop founder and CEO Carl-Johan Torarp invented LocaLoop's 4G Mobile WiMAX/LTE enabling technology and founded the company in 2003 to provide products and solutions for 4G mobile broadband internet designed for the rural markets of the world.

On its website, LocaLoop states that it answers the question: "How can you build a profitable business delivering high-quality Broadband Internet service at an affordable subscriber price in low density areas both at home and on the go?"

The platform's cloud computing architecture is key to that, as it makes deployment of a virtual network operations center affordable for broadband internet service providers.

LocaLoop's target market is the approximately 50 million people in under-served and rural areas of the U.S. alone, according to its website.

The partnership with Runcom is "much more than a marketing and technology agreement," said Torarp in a press release. "Together we are able to deliver a powerful turnkey 4G wireless network solution with capabilities that we could not achieve individually."

The two companies will focus on the nine-state region of the upper Midwestern U.S. initially, and it may be the first of more joint ventures for LocaLoop. The company states on its website that it is currently in a testing phase on its own live 4G network and will begin roll-out with rural joint venture partners in the U.S. during midyear 2011.

Source: LocaLooop
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

Ignite Minneapolis
Tuesday, April 12, 6:30�9:30 p.m.
Heights Theatre, 3951 Central Ave. NE, Columbia Heights
ticket information online

The lineup is set for the third round of Ignite Minneapolis, a high-energy evening of "5-minute talks by people who have an idea." Eighteen speakers will muse on topics ranging from "Can the US government deal with a technically sophisticated citizenry? to karaoke tips, and a history of the vibrator.

The organization will make a donation to Children with Autism Deserve Education, a volunteer-run organization that supports families affected by Autism. Admission includes two free beer tickets.


Greening Your Business Conference
Thursday, April 14
Marriott City Center, 30 S. Seventh St., Minneapolis
Free to $75

The Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council expect 100 exhibitors and 1,200 attendees at this year's conference, which will include a kickoff address by Mayor R.T. Rybak, a keynote panel presentation, a lineup of workshop speakers, and exhibits at which attendees can learn about sustainable and eco-friendly products and services for the workplace.

A free morning workshop on energy management and efficiency is funded by the City of Minneapolis' Climate-Change Grant. Exhibit-hall passes are $15, while a $75 fee grants admission to the entire conference.


Minnesota High Tech Association Spring Conference
Thursday, April 14
Minneapolis Convention Center
$159�$199

Minnesota innovation is the theme at the MHTA's spring conference.

Keynote speakers include Ira Flatow of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday; Geek Squad founder and Best Buy chief technology officer Robert Stephens; Amit Mital, corporate vice president of the Startup Business Group at Microsoft; Carolyn Parnell, the State of Minnesota's chief information officer; and Theresa Wise, senior vice president and chief information officer of Delta Air Lines.

An impressive list of high tech executives will lead more than 20 breakout sessions, as well.


MOJO Mixer: "Speed Mentoring"
Wednesday, April 13, 5 p.m.
PSoup HQ, 287 E. Sixth St., Ste. 160, St. Paul

MOJO Minnesota and Minne* present the first MOJO mixer, described as an evening of "speed dating for entrepreneurs," who will meet, greet and mingle and receive guidance and advice from professional subject matter experts on a wide rang of topics involved in startups.

The educational/inspirational/networking event is open to entrepreneurs who have begun the launch of a business. See website for more detail and a list of experts and topic areas.


Momentum 2011: Hans Rosling
Tuesday, April 26, 7:30 p.m.
Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 S. Fourth St., Minneapolis
$20 ($15 for U of M students, staff, faculty, alumni, UMAA members)

International health guru Hans Rosling will speak on a fact-based world view for this second of three monthly events hosted by the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment. Rosling co-founded the Gapminder Foundation, which promotes "a fact-based world view by converting international statistics into moving, interactive, understandable and enjoyable graphics."

Comedian Cy Amundson opens, and MPR's Kerri Miller will host the event. You can submit a question online for Rosling to answer.

Note: the Launch.MN kickoff event originally scheduled for April 2 has been postponed until May. Watch online for information.

2009 Minnesota Cup winner 8th Bridge (formerly Alvenda) looks to sustain its momentum following its recent $10 million in a series B funding round led by venture firm Trident Capital. Split Rock Partners also participated.

8thBridge's social commerce platform monetizes social media for some of the largest merchants in the world. The e-commerce pioneer opened the first Facebook retail store for 1-800-Flowers in July 2009. More merchants followed, and 8th Bridge-powered stores made $100,000 in daily sales by December 2010, according to the company's website.

The new round of funding grew out of "accelerated demand" from merchants, says CEO and Founder Wade Gerten in a press release. The funding will be used to enhance the company's technology platform, 8thBridge StoreCast.

Planned enhancements include improving the ability to receive highly personalized offers based on interests, to take advantage of special social promotions, and to receive rewards for advocating for favorite merchants.

8thBridge changed its name from Alvenda in January. The name "is a nod to the company's pioneering development of social graph-based commerce, stemming from the Seven Bridges of K�nigsberg, the historical mathematical problem that served as the genesis of Euler's Graph Theory," states the release.

Source: 8th Bridge
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

The search to "find, fund and foster" entrepreneurs with big ideas in cleantech kicked off last week in the North Central region: the 2011 Cleantech Open.

The second annual business competition is a year-long program through which budding companies receive mentorship and training from local experts and gain exposure to investors. Participants compete in six cleantech categories: renewable energy, transportation, smart power and energy storage, energy efficiency, green building, and air/water/waste.

There are prizes for the regional winners, including the chance to compete in the national Cleantech Open for more than $250,000 in cash and services. The North Central region covers Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, new to the region for the 2011 competition.

Last year, the North Central region contestants outnumbered all other regions but California, with more than 30 collaborations and 200 contributing professionals.

All four 2010 semi-finalists received funding, notes Justin Kaster, Cleantech Open North Central regional director. They included Minnesota startups New Water and EarthClean Corporation, whose innovative and environmentally responsible fire suppression earned them the 2010 Minnesota Cup title, as well.

The competition helps "drive innovation, create jobs, foster early-stage investment, and teach a more sustainable way of doing business," says Kaster in a press release.

Entries for the Cleantech Open are now being accepted online, and the North Central region is recruiting professional volunteers to assist as mentors, judges, and program committee members.

Source: Cleantech Open
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

The saying "too many cooks in the kitchen" has a more positive connotation for Kitchen in the Market since the chef's collective moved to its new 1,550-square-foot space in Minneapolis' Midtown Global Market in February.

Kitchen in the Market was born in a 400-square-foot space at the Global Market in 2007 out of a need for affordable shared commercial kitchen space, says manager and owner Molly Hermann, who also runs Tastebud Catering.

After two and a half years at capacity with a waiting list and low turnover, Kitchen in the Market was bursting at its seams. The new space is quadruple the size of the old one and allows more than twice the number of chefs to rent; the number grew from nine to 17 with the move, and more are expected.

Midtown Global Market invested over $100,000 in the new space. Hermann says the City of Minneapolis approached her about the low-interest loans that financed about half of the cost, the other half coming from the Neighborhood Development Center.

The move is more than just a physical expansion. Kitchen in the Market incorporated as a business and added a more formalized cooking class space that allows new and more classes and events.

While the expanded space has improved Kitchen in the Market as an entity, its core benefit remains the availability of affordable commercial space for the caterers and chefs that rent there.

"It definitely allows them to grow their businesses," says Hermann, adding that it's a great opportunity for startups with low overhead. The chefs not only share equipment and resources, they use each other as a network.

"I think all of us have benefited in a lot of different ways from being in the same kitchen," Hermann says.

Source: Molly Hermann, Kitchen in the Market
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

The Minneapolis-based health-care/IT company formerly known as VisionShare began in February in its offices near the University of Minnesota and ended the month as ABILITY Network in its newly designed headquarters in Downtown Minneapolis' Butler Square.

The new 51,000-square-foot digs--designed to meet LEED Commercial Interior standards--reflect the 11-year-old company's physical growth. Now with 135 employees, ABILITY has added 100 jobs in the past few years and expects to add a hundred more in the next few, including dozens more jobs this year, says CEO Mark Briggs.

Meanwhile, the fresh moniker reflects the substantial growth and change of the business; after many years enabling secure internet Medicare transactions, ABIILTY has extended its services to more health-care providers.

ABILITY now connects 3,500 hospitals nationwide--about half the hospitals in the  country, says Briggs--as well as tens of thousands of other health-care facilities.

Furthermore, ABILITY now allows those customers to do more than just administer Medicare transactions, but to work with commercial payers or plans, says Briggs.

He characterizes the network as a "Google for doc[tors]" that "enables clinicians to be aware of the fragmented nature of their patients' clinical record," says Briggs.

"When I show up at the hospital for the first time, I start with a blank manila folder," he explains, "I've got health information scattered across the health-care network. There was no way, pre-ABILTIY, for the health-care-giver to know where all that information was."

ABILITY allows the care-giver to locate the information and bring it together, with patient consent and in a secure way that takes the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) into account, Briggs notes.

The result is "more efficient health care that leads to better patient outcomes, lower costs [for both insurers and patients] and to take the same budget and provide care for more people instead of less-efficient care for fewer," he says.

Briggs notes that stimulus funding and the attention the current administration has given to health care have "been helpful in enabling health-care providers to have the resources to connect." IT advances have made the work possible.

"Only recently did the technology mature to the point where this became feasible," says Briggs, "and hospitals and doctors have funding to enable these types of networks to grow profitably."

Source: Mark Briggs, ABILITY Network
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

If you see a disconnect between Minneapolis-mainstay Freewheel Bike's urban locations and the company's newest store in suburban Eden Prairie, take a look at a bike map.??

A long line of trails--primarily the Midtown Greenway and its western extensions--connects the flagship store, opened in 1974, to the new Eden Prairie location at 12910 Plaza Drive near Eden Prairie Center, where a network of local bike trails weaves its way through the surrounding area. (Along the 17-mile journey, one would pass Freewheel's trailside store near the Midtown Global Market, added in 2008.)

Eden Prairie includes 125 miles of biking trails, according to a press release, and Freewheel cites both leisure and urban/suburban commuters in its decision to locate there, as well as "an overall vision that supports and promotes bicycle riding, for leisure or commuting, throughout the Twin Cities metro area."

Freewheel is celebrating the opening of the new 7,000-square-foot store with a week-long open house, through March 28, with promotions at all three locations, including 20 percent off all the merchandise you can fit in a Freewheel Bike tote bag.

Freewheel owner Kevin Ishaug will manage the new store, which will support 35 new full- and part-time employees, bringing Freewheel's total staff count to 85, according to a press release.

The pairing of Freewheel and Eden Prairie marks the marriage of national elites: Money magazine's "best place to live" for 2010 and a Bicycle Retailer magazine "five-star retailer"--ranking in the top 100 nationwide for five straight years (along with local competitors Erik's and Penn Cycle).

In addition to its three locations, Freewheel also offers its Mobile Repair Squad and Gear Box vending machines, which offer repair kits and snack items along several Twin Cities-area bike trails.

Source: Freewheel Bike
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

Minneapolis is one of the most recent additions to a list of cities hoping to boost growth in its existing small businesses through the Small Business Asministration's (SBA) e200 Emerging Leaders Initiative.

The program, administered locally by the Minnesota office of the SBA, delivers 100 hours of training to selected small businesses, as well as mentoring, networking and connections with other businesses, city leaders and the financial community.

Classes begin April 18 and run bi-weekly through November, says Nancy Libersky, district director of the Minnesota office of the SBA.  Libersky compared the "high-level, very-intense training" to an MBA worth $10,000 per student. Each company selected may send one executive-level employee ("CEO, CFO--one of the Cs," says Libersky).

Space is limited. Libersky did not say how many companies could participate, only that they have received some "excellent candidates." Minneapolis businesses that generate revenues between $400,000 and $10 million, and which have been in business for at least three years, are eligible.

Minneapolis is one of 17 urban-community participants around the country for fiscal year 2011. More than 600 small businesses have been through the program since its inception is 2008, according to an SBA press release.

The class will be led by a specialized trainer hired out of Washington, D.C. who will interview and train to learn the locality and specifics of the Minneapolis program, says Libersky. The SBA has eight local business, organization and municipal partners assisting in the initiative.

Source: Nancy Libersky, Minnesota Office of the Small Business Administration
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

Consider this reality: you're a high school math teacher. One hundred and sixty students cycle through your classroom every a day.

"How would you have any idea which students struggle with certain concepts?" asks Corey Thompson. "What we ask our teachers to do in that realm is not possible."

Thompson is co-founder and chief executive officer of Naiku, a local start-up offering an online education assessment platform that benefits both student and teacher, says Thompson.

Naiku ("teacher" in Lao) gives teachers a "classroom dashboard" that allows both summative assessment--what students know--as well as formative assessment--how they learned it. A formative assessment question might be: "What was the concept that this quiz tested you on?" offers Thompson.

The exercise in "meta-cognition" enriches the students' learning experience, he says. "It helps the students perform better, as well, because it makes them think about what they know and what they don't know."

Teachers can create assessments, share them with other teachers, and customize and organize the student data gathered.

A two-minute video on Naiku's website gives a quick overview of how the platform works.

Naiku was born last fall and is already being used by thousands of students, says Thomspon. In late February, Naiku announced a partnership with Austin, Texas-based Instruction-Driven Measurement Center (IDMC) to market and connect Naiku to more users. Thompson expects to add other partnerships in the near future.

Thompson met co-founder and cognitive psychologist Adisack Nhouyvanisvong while they were earning MBAs at the University of Minnesota. (Both graduated last year.) Kevin Sampers, a third co-founder, is Naiku's COO and VP of sales and marketing.

Naiku works in all major browsers and on all personal devices, Thompson says, including iPhone, iPod Touch, android, iPad and laptop.

Thompson sees schools embracing the use of personal devices more and more. He envisions that, in the near future, students will use their own devices, with subsidies for students that don't own devices, similar to free- and reduced-priced lunch.

"In the next year or two, it's all going to tip," says Thompson. "Student devices will be welcomed."

Source: Corey Thompson, Naiku
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

After four months of private-site testing, the online education site Sophia went live on March 7.

The response was overwhelming: In the first 48 hours, people logged on from 69 different countries. Not bad, considering Sophia had spent nothing on advertising.

"That was really just based on educational blogs and people spreading the word on Twitter and Facebook," says Sophia founder and CEO Don Smithmier, whom we recently profiled. "It's just the most incredible example of the power of the social web that I've ever seen."

It's exactly that power Smithmier and his team hope to tap with Sophia--a sort-of social media for academia that crowd-sources educational instruction for free, public dissemination.

While the minimum registration age is 13, Sophia's core audience is grades 11�14, says Smithmier, "the last two years of high school and first two years of college, when people are working on general education curriculum � topics that are a gateways to college where a lot of people struggle."

That said, anyone can view Sophia's "learning packets," which registered users create on any subject, with instruction in text, video, graphics and more. (A quick perusal finds topics ranging from graphing rational functions to Chaucer.)

Packet creators may offer their instruction to the whole World Wide Web or create and manage private groups for work amongst students and peers.

Sophia packets are rated for "trustability" in two ways: through a five-star user rating, and by a more rigorous expert review. Though still crowd-sourced, subject experts need to be a teacher or hold a master's degree or higher in the field. Academically sound packets must be vetted by three such experts.

Sophia is one of four companies under entrepreneur Smithmier's Matter Worldwide umbrella. Based in the Warehouse District in Downtown Minneapolis, Sophia began last November.

Before the public beta launch in March, 1,600 academics from 200 institutions tested the site. Those educators used it in ways the Sophia team didn't expect. "One high school teacher used it as an assessment tool," says Smithmier. "Instead of creating learning packets, he assigned [his algebra students] to create a learning packet � to demonstrate that they understood the concept."

It's an example of how the crowd-sourced, social education site will grow organically.

"I'm a believer that there are a ton of very creative, very innovative educators out there," says Smithmier. "I think Sophia can give them a tool that's out in the cloud, not a cumbersome software package, but something that's very intuitive, very easy to use and consistent with the web's most popular systems like Facebook, Wikipedia, and YouTube."

Sophia is in no hurry to move out of beta; with tongue in cheek, Smithmier cites Google mail's seven-year test period as a benchmark. The company does intend to roll out licensable versions offering more space, functionality, and administrative control later this year.

Minneapolis-based Capella University is one of the owners of Sophia, along with Matter Worldwide. The Sophia leadership team has a strong local strain, as well--a fact that Smithmier believes reflects the city's strong standing in educational technology.

"I'm personally dedicated to � making people more aware of that fact," he says. "There's tremendous brain power here when it comes to educational technology."

Source: Don Smithmier, Sophia
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

The results are in for the state's Angel Investor Tax Credit program, passed last April and launched in July of 2010.

The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) delivered its report to the legislature on March 15. (The 16-page report and some of its contents are linked at the bottom of this page.)

In the last six months of the year, the program drew in $28 million in investment to 67 Minnesota small businesses (those not more than 10 years old and with fewer than 25 employees, among other qualification requirements).

Eleven separate businesses received $1 million or more through the program, including Cachet Financial Solutions, the only company to bring in more than $2 million.

The investments came from 258 certified individuals, who received approximately $7 million in Small Business Investment Tax Credits.

That amount is $4 million shy of the $11 million available for 2010--a remainder that will roll into 2011, totaling $16 million for the current year, according to DEED's Jeff Nelson.

Nelson said that activity accelerated toward the end of the last year, as the program picked up speed. That momentum is expected to continue, aided in part by the new Minnesota Angel Network, launched earlier this year.

No surprise: medical devices and equipment, software, and biotechnology accounted for more than half of the industries and businesses receiving investments, with clean technology close behind. In terms of total investment amount, biotech barely led the field:

Biotech: $5,683,000
Medical devices and equipment: $5,362,484
Software: $5,320,753
Clean tech: $4,281,002

Only six of the 67 businesses receiving investment were outside the Twin Cities metro area, a point of concern noted and addressed in the report.

Monte Hanson, DEED spokesperson, noted that more than a quarter of investors were from out of state--an aspect that differs from other states' angel-investment programs. Non-Minnesota investors receive a direct refundable credit from the state--an opportunity that encourages out-of-state participation, says Hanson.

Sources: Jeff Nelson and Monte Hanson, Department of Employment and Economic Development
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

Momentum 2011: You Don't Have to Move Out of Your Neighborhood to Live in a Better One
Thursday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.
Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 S. Fourth St., Minneapolis
$20 ($15 for U of M students, staff, faculty, alumni, UMAA members)

"Eco-entrepreneur" Majora Carter headlines the March installment of Momentum 2011, hosted by the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment. The event bio describes Carter as "one of the nation's pioneers of environment-centered urban renewal and green-collar job training and placement."

Don Shelby will host the event, which will feature a performance by Ananya Dance Theatre. Other Momentum 2011 events will feature "environmental visionaries" in April and May.


Solutions Twin Cities Vol. 4
Friday, March 18, 7 p.m.
Capri Theater, 2027 W. Broadway Ave., Minneapolis
$8�16
See our March 2 article.


Mobile March
Saturday, March 19, 8 a.m.
Best Buy Corporate Offices, 7601 Penn Ave. S., Richfield
$40

The second annual Mobile March conference will be a "day dedicated to understanding mobile." The day-long conference offers two tracks: "developer and programming" for mobile developers and "marketing and use" for businesspeople.

A pre-conference demo, dinner and drinks will be held Friday, March 18 at CoCo, 213 E. 4th St. #400 in Saint Paul. The $40 registration fee covers both events.


Disaster Recovery: It's No Joke
Friday, April 1, 7:30�9:30 a.m.
Westin Hotel, 88 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis
Free.

IBM and VISI team up to present this breakfast seminar about disaster recovery solutions for businesses.


Launch.MN kickoff party
Saturday, April 2, noon�9 p.m.
International Market Square, 275 Market St., Minneapolis
Free

Launch.MN--a new nonprofit to support local entrepreneurs--will kick off with an all-day event described as "a coming-out party and social event for everyone who cares about improving entrepreneurial culture and early-stage business activity in Minnesota."


Stone Brewing Co.'s Stone Week--Minnesota
March 29�April 2
Various locations

OK, it's not exactly innovation, but it's new to us, and it's beer! To kick off its Twin Cities distribution, San Diego-based Stone Brewing Co. will be pouring at local watering holes for five days beginning March 29. The dozens of Stone Brewing beers will include "rarities from the darkest depths of our archives."

Writer: Jeremy Stratton

Sometimes it takes the right ingredient to make a recipe work.

In the case of Baldinger Bakery and the St. Paul Port Authority, just add $19 million in New Market Tax Credits to make the dough rise.

The NMTC financing, through the Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF), will result in a new, 145,000-square-foot facility for Baldinger in the Dayton's Bluff area of St. Paul. The project, expected to be completed this year, should create 80 full-time construction jobs.

Moreover, Baldinger will hire 40 new full-time employees over the next ten years--70 percent of those from St. Paul --at a minimum of $11 an hour, according to East Side Pride.

Baldinger's roots go back to 1888, when immigrant Henry Baldinger opened his bakery in St. Paul. Nearly 125 years later, the bakery has grown into a giant commercial operation, shipping to international markets and supplying McDonald's with approximately 30 percent of its buns, along with strategic partner East Balt Bakeries out of Chicago, according to the Baldinger website.

Having grown out of its 60,000 square-foot West Side facility, Baldinger sought to stay in St. Paul through a deal with the St. Paul Port Authority (SPPA), which was looking for a tenant for the 9.4-acre site of the former Griffin Wheelworks foundry. The site is part of the SPPA's 61-acre Beacon Bluff Business Center, a redevelopment of 3M's former headquarters on St. Paul's East Side.

The deal "languished as credit remained tight and Baldinger received a generous incentive offer to move to a nearby suburb," according to a press release from Haberman for the Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF), which became a player in the game when it contributed the $19 million in NMTC financing, along with the SPPA, last year.

The Griffin site is located in a qualified low-income census tract, making the project eligible for the NMTC financing.
 
Baldinger's website offers a virtual aerial view of the future bakery.

Sources: David Hlavac, Haberman
East Side Pride
Baldinger Bakery

Writer: Jeremy Stratton

While the $3.5 billion allocation of community development funds to 99 organizations might seem generous, consider the demand: 250 organizations in 27 states requesting $23.5 billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) fund allocations.

Five Minnesota organizations were among the 99 to receive a portion of $3.5 billion in community redevelopment funds authorized through the federal government's eighth round of NMTC allocations.

The Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund has made 594 awards totaling $29.5 billion since it was established by Congress in December 2000.

Through the NMTC program, taxpayers receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs). Those investment must be used by the CDE "to provide capital for low-income communities, help finance community development projects, stimulate economic growth and create jobs," according to a press release from Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF), a CDE based in Downtown Minneapolis that received $77 million in NMTC funds this round.

"Industry estimates show that for every $1 gained by NMTCs, award recipients are able to leverage an average of $21 in additional investment from the private sector," states CRF. Though headquartered here, CRF serves mainly urban communities in six other states, as well. (See our story on Baldinger Bakery's new facility for an example of how CRF uses its NMTC funds.)

Other Minnesota CDEs to receive funding include:

University Financial Corporation/Sunrise Community Banks
Headquartered in Saint Paul, Sunrise received $25 million. Comprising Franklin Bank, Park Midway Bank and University Bank, Sunrise's "community stories" include Common Roots Caf�, Catalyst and Urban Homeworks. Sunrise will utilize its 2010 NMTC allocation to expand its existing investment to small and local businesses in highly distressed neighborhoods, to create small projects loan pools, and to finance energy savings retrofits for commercial buildings.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
Headquartered in New York, LISC received $70 million in the latest round, and the organization has received a total allocation of $693 million in NMTC allocation since the program's inception--the largest in the country, according to Program Officer Tina Homstad. LISC's Twin Cities office has put NMTC funds into the Midtown Global Market and Plaza Verde projects in Minneapolis, among other local work.

Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation, based in Detroit Lakes, serves non-metro rural communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. They received $74 million.

Portland, Oreg.-based National Community Fund I, LLC/Portland Family of Funds Holdings, Inc., which also serves Minnesota, received $77 million.

Sources: Community Reinvestment Fund, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, U.S. Department of Treasury

St. Paul-based Transit for Livable Communities (TLC) has released funds for three new projects through its administration of the federal Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Project (NMTPP).

Minneapolis is one of four communities in the country participating; TLC has allocated nearly $20 million of NMTPP funds in four funding rounds so far, much of it through its Bike/Walk Twin Cities program.

This smaller than first round will fund:

� $62,000 in pedestrian improvements on Franklin Avenue between 23rd and 26th avenues in Minneapolis, including countdown timers, marked crosswalks, curb extensions, and possibly future bike lanes;

� $110,000 to fill two "pedestrian gaps" to the North Star Rail Station in Fridley; and

� $1 million additional capital support for the bike-share program Nice Ride, to expand the number of bikes and stations.

Joan Pasiuk, bicycling and walking program director for TLC, describes the effort as more than just "new streetscape and infrastructure.

"We really look at this as�innovative ways to help people connect with their community and use resources in different ways," says Pasiuk.

In Minneapolis, the Franklin Avenue improvements have been "very community-led" and especially included new residents and new immigrants in the process, she says.

Likewise, the Fridley project is part of a transit-oriented development effort in that city, she says--part of a Compete Streets movement and larger comprehensive plan.
 
"That's very progressive, for suburban communities to take on that type of project," says Pasiuk.

Source: Joan Pasiuk, Transit for Livable Communities
Writer: Jeremy Stratton