Strong Local Economy : Innovation + Job News

On May 2, the City of Minneapolis awarded nearly $500,000 in grants to assist small businesses along its commercial corridors through the city's Great Streets Neighborhood Business District Program.

The city funded 15 proposals ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, for a total of $499,873. The funds are passed through community development organizations to the businesses.

This is the fourth year the grants have been awarded. So far, more than 250 new and existing businesses have received technical assistance in marketing, bookkeeping, product mix, licensing and code requirements, and business planning, states a press release announcing the grants. The awarded organizations also use the funds for such things as business development and recruitment, public safety initiatives, real estate/market assessment, construction mitigation, and more.

The list of awarded organizations includes nonprofits across the city.
 
The Neighborhood Business District grants program is part of the city's $4 million Great Streets initiative, according to Kelly Hoffman, senior project coordinator for the City of Minneapolis.

The greater initiative also includes fa�ade improvement matching grants, real estate development gap financing loans, and marketing of the city's finance programs to help small businesses, she says.

As the program has progressed, the city is measuring progress and collecting success stories, Hoffman says, and the program allows organizations in the city's 118 commercial nodes and corridors to learn from one another.

"One of the benefits of the program being around for a fourth year is we're starting to figure out best practices and different ways for organizations to further best strategies," she says.

Source: Kelly Hoffman, City of Minneapolis.
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul hope green will be gold when it comes to local businesses, manufacturing, jobs, products, and services.

Announced last summer and approved last fall, the first meeting of the Thinc.GreenMSP steering committee was convened by the mayors on April 13.

Thinc.GreenMSP is an economic-development partnership between the two cities, business, organized labor, nonprofits, and government to retain, grow and attract green-manufacturing businesses and jobs in the Minneapolis�Saint Paul region, which St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman envisions as "the center of a burgeoning green economy" in a press release about the endeavor.

The effort involves "buying and using locally made products from green manufacturers," as Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak stated in the release. The partners believe that demand will drive the need for workers to manufacture those products--and new and thriving businesses to employ those workers.

Thinc.GreenMSP involves five "strategic initiatives," according to the press release:

� a "Local Government Green Purchasing Partnership" to help grow the market for green products;
� support for local and state actions to utilize aggressive green building standards and create demand for manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers of green products and services;
� a green-business recruitment strategy to attract new businesses;
� private start-up funding to seed new, growing, or relocating businesses, with financing options to leverage public investment with private capital; and
 � a program to recognize corporate leadership in green manufacturing.

The Thinc.GreenMSP initiative falls under the larger joint effort between the cities to create a metropolitan business plan--part of a pilot project by the Brookings Institute. Earlier this month, mayors Coleman and Rybak traveled to Washington, D.C. to present the plan, which aims to improve the business environment, attract companies and "human capital," and foster innovation and entrepreneurship, among other goals.

The joint press release from the two cities includes the list of individuals from business, organized labor, government and nonprofits on the Thinc.GreenMSP steering committee.

Source: City of Minneapolis, City of St. Paul
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

The local-government focus on fostering innovation and entrepreneurs echoes a larger effort underway at the federal level, such as the Obama administration's Startup America program, which made its stop in the Twin Cities earlier this month.

Federal officials from the Commerce Department,Patent and Trademark Office, Small Business Administration, and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs led a number of "Reducing Barriers" roundtable discussions with local small businesses and large corporations to gauge what changes might be made to improve the environment for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Medronic hosted the event at its Fridley headquarters.

Officials intend to take the ideas that come out of the roundtable tour of eight U.S. cities back to Washington "to streamline and simplify unnecessary barriers," according to a description of the April 6 event. President Obama has given an executive order for federal agencies to "identify and take steps to eliminate or reduce regulations that are outdated or overly burdensome to entrepreneurs."

Ideas are also being collected online, where a list of strategies is growing daily.

Specifics from the Twin Cities roundtables were not yet available, but Nancy Libersky, district director of the Minnesota office of the SBA, says the ideas similarly ran the gamut-- "anything from small-government to big-government to non-government questions," says Libersky.

Likewise, changes implemented could range from the congressional level to local fixes, she said.

In similar news, the SBA held the first class this week for its e200 Emerging Leaders Program, through which selected small businesses receive training, mentoring, and other resources. As with Startup America, the Twin Cities is one of a select group to take part in the program.

"I think that Minnesota is really on the forefront of being highlighted, and I'm really hoping that this continues," says Libersky of the momentum of the programs.

Libersky sees both as part of a larger, necessary collaboration to improve the economic atmosphere for entrepreneurs.

"I think that everybody needs to work together," she says. "I think we have a huge gap that the entrepreneurs really need to fill, and the only way that they're going to be stronger is to help them. It's these types of programs that are really helping these entrepreneurs grow."

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

While web developers were burning the midnight oil, Overnight Challenge hosts The Nerdery were putting the finishing touches on an expansion that will more than double its Bloomington headquarters.

The 8-year-old web development firm is growing like crazy; the employee count stood at 205 last week, but don't blink.

"We're pretty much adding staff all the time," says Nerdery Communications Manager Mark Malmberg. "Almost every Monday new people are starting."

The buildout will bring the headquarters to 44,625 square feet, about half of which was being occupied in daily phases this week. The rest will be ready around the turn of the year, says Malmberg, likely just in time for the approximately 100 employees they expect to add by then.

New hires have mostly been developers, but The Nerdery has also seeing smaller departments expand--both its user experience and quality assurance departments have grown from a just one or two to 10 people. The company has also been adding account executives; two-thirds of its business is for more than 200 agencies in 30 states.

The expansion includes the addition of a 220-seat theater, in which the "big hive mind" will congregate on Friday late-afternoons for its weekly Bottlecap Talk, a "peer-to-peer with beer," as Malmberg puts it--a company tradition of sharing work from the week before.

The Nerdery will also let other organizations from the web development community, such as iPhone developers and PHP and Wordpress user groups, use the space, Malmberg says. "We like to be the hub for that sort of thing," he says.

The physical and staffing expansions reflect revenue growth, of course; The Nerdery "is tracking to $30 million" this year, says Malmberg.

Source: Mark Malmberg, The Nerdery
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

Hey entrepreneurs: how does $50,000 sound? Good?

Well how about $30 million?

The first amount is the take-away for the winner of the 2011 Minnesota Cup competition, through which entrepreneurs pit their best ideas and business endeavors against one another in six categories.

The higher number is the amount of capital raised by companies that were Minnesota Cup finalists in 2009 and 2010.

Through May 20, the seventh annual Minnesota Cup is open for entries in six award divisions--High Tech, BioSciences, Clean Tech and Renewable Energy, Social Entrepreneurship, General, and Student--through a short online form.
 
Later, judges will select 8�10 semi-finalists from each division who will prepare full business plans and be paired with an industry-specific entrepreneurial mentor.

Division winners are awarded as much as $25,000 and the chance at the grand prize--another $25,000--in September.

While 50 grand and the exposure of winning is nothing to sneeze at, Minnesota Cup Co-founder Dan Mallin notes that the goal is really to "help 30 businesses get started in each category," whether a given business is just a good idea or an existing startup.

"Another good outcome is they might find out it really isn't a good idea," says Mallin.

Participants also benefit from mentorship and resources--far more of which exist in general for the state's entrepreneurs since the advent of the Cup six years ago, notes Mallin.

Two of those resources are the new 2011 partners Minnesota Angel Network and tech accelerator Project Skyway, which will offer the winner of the High Tech division a spot in its startup "boot camp."

Mallin says he sees momentum in the startup scene.

"The Cup is an attempt to be a conduit amongst the players and resources behind that momentum," he says.

That said, Mallin also sees a lot of room for improvement in state's entrepreneurial efforts. "We're being outspent by 30 other states in innovation," he says.

Source: Dan Mallin, Minnesota Cup
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

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

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

Agitators, innovators, evangelists and maybe even some angels (as in investors) gathered Feb. 23 for a MOJO Minnesota-hosted conversation on technology transfer.

At issue: how to bridge the gap between inventors and entrepreneurs and smooth the runway for the commercialization of innovations and intellectual property produced by Minnesota researchers.

The event took place on the U of M's West Bank campus. The panel of six, which was moderated by MOJO "agitator" Rick Brimacomb, represented the university (and Mayo Clinic) research side, the entrepreneur side, and someone in between:  recent U of M graduate-turned entrepreneur Alex Johansson, co-founder and CTO of the startup NewWater, LLC,

Jay Schrankler, executive director of the U of M's Office of Technology Commercialization, offered some statistics about the university's improving track record of "spinning off" companies--and ones that stay in Minnesota.

From 2001�2006, said Schrankler, 14 companies spun out of the university, of which four still exist. Of the147 jobs those companies created, 111 are in California now--an example of the tech-and-talent drain that was a key topic of the MOJO conversation.

By contrast, 23 companies have come out of the U of M since 2006, he said, 21 of which are still around. They account for 50 jobs, all of which are in Minnesota, according to Schrankler.

Early conversation addressed the success or failure of tech-transfer attempts.

"Success is a deal that doesn't fall through," said Jeff Carpenter, senior portfolio manager for Development Capital Networks. He outlined mistakes he sees companies making in the process of bringing research to market.

"The companies tend to � overestimate the stage of development, and they underestimate the cost and the time to get something to market."

Lee Jones, CEO in residence at the university's Venture Center, stressed the importance of similar expectations on the parts of the researchers and entrepreneurs.

"When I hear people say 'it's hard to get technology out of [the university],' what I really hear is that they, a) don't know how to access it, or b) they have expectations that they are getting more than [the concept of the technology].

"There's expectation that the development process has already taken place, or that the inventor is going to willingly hand over all of his information," she said.

Schrankler laid out the four elements necessary for a successful start-up company: the right technology, a good market for that technology, a good management team, and, of course, capital.

Johansson hit on a key point with his advice for entrepreneurs looking to license technology from the university.

"[The university's] one concern is the revenue that's going to get generated by this technology," he said, "and by licensing it to you, they are preventing anyone else from generating revenue with [that] technology."

Schrankler followed with a breakdown of revenue return: one-third rightly goes to the inventor, he said, and the rest goes back into research.

Later, conversation turned to the potential for technology to flee the state. While the university is strong in biotech research, "If you have a biotech invention, and you want to spin off a company, where is it going to end up?" asked Carpenter. "San Francisco or Boston."

Johansson noted that, of 40 recent, top-of-their-class graduates he knows, all have jobs, and only four are in this state.

Schrankler assured potential entrepreneurs that the university is trying to not send technology out of state--despite opportunities to do so--and he asked them to be patient.

"We have more potential companies in our pipeline right now than the system can handle," said Schrankler. "Have patience with us. The longer we can keep that company inside the university and work the problem so that it can stay here�"

An audience member asked why so much emphasis was put on biotech research at the university when the Twin Cities has stronger markets for other technology.

"We are the Silicon Valley of medical devices," said the audience member.

The argument was also made that the region's concentration of med-tech chokes off the potential for growth in other areas.

To this point, Carpenter advised entrepreneurs to diversify their interests in technologies.

"There's more here than just med-tech," he said. "Maintain what you've got with med-tech, but support all the other innovations out there."

"God bless you!" responded Darren Cox, founder and "chief evangelist" of Commerce and Search for Tech Transfer (CaSTT).

Earlier on, he had given prospective entrepreneurs some simple advice:

"Be curious � and figure out what it is that you're interested in that is going on at the U. It's a huge place, and they are some of the most amazing things that I've ever seen coming out of research.

"There are gold mines here, trust me," said Cox. "There are cash machines, and entrepreneurs who ignore the university's innovations are doing themselves a great disservice."

Source: MOJO Minnesota tech transfer conversation, Feb. 23
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

We haven't seen a lineup like this since the last Ozzfest.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will headline a group of senior administration officials for a day of trade talk Feb. 17 as the U.S. Department of Commerce kicks off its multi-city National Export Initiative Small Business Tour in Minneapolis. Local opening acts Governor Mark Dayton and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak will also speak.

The tour is designed to further the Obama Administration's "New Markets, New Jobs" outreach, part of the National Export Initiative launched last year. Its goal: to create millions of new jobs by doubling exports in the next five years.

The conference will address export challenges specific to small and medium-sized businesses, which generated 20 percent of Minnesota's total exports of merchandise in 2008. Challenges include foreign competition and access to information, market research, and financing.

The daylong conference will feature panels on topics like federal resources and "lessons learned" from area businesses that have succeeded in expanding into overseas markets.

Asked to comment specifically on opportunities, resources and strategies for Twin Cities businesses, Department of Commerce officials pointed to the most recent statistics on exports, jobs, and foreign investment in Minnesota.

Some key statistics include:

� Almost 20 percent of manufacturing workers in Minnesota depended on exports for their jobs in 2008, during which 6,814 companies exported goods from Minnesota. The vast majority (88 percent) were businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

� That year, foreign-controlled companies employed 97,200 Minnesota workers � 4.1 percent of the state's total private-industry employment.

� In 2009, Minnesota's merchandise exports shipments totaled $15.5 billion. Of that, $4.1 billion (26 percent) went to Canada, our largest foreign market. Computers and electronics accounted for $3.4 billion of that total (22 percent), followed by machinery manufactures ($2.4 billion), miscellaneous manufactures ($1.9 billion), and transportation equipment ($1.7 billion).

� The Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington statistical area (11 metro counties and two in Wisconsin) exported $9.3 billion in the first half of 2009 alone.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

There is good news both nationally and locally for those seeking jobs in information technology and health care.

Monster.com, the country's largest online jobs database, has ranked the Twin Cities (limited to Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington) sixth among 28 major job markets in the country.

Nationally, IT and health care are leading the job growth by occupation. The local market reflects that trend, says Matt Henson, vice president of public relations for Monster. The Twin Cities' top three jobs in order: systems analyst, web developer and registered nurse.

State data confirms Monster's findings. Kyle Uphoff, regional analysis and outreach unit manager for Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), reports a 79 percent increase over the last 12 months in job openings for health care practitioners such as registered nurses and pharmacists. Health care and social services as a whole are up 56 percent.

Computer and IT job openings have risen even faster: 112 percent in the last year, reports Uphoff.

Those two sectors dominate the state's list of expected long-term growth by occupation, representing seven of the top 10 "growing industries." Atop the list is management and technical consulting services, with an expected 62 percent increase from 2009 to 2019. That matches a national trend toward more and more IT contractors and consultants, Monster's Henson notes.

Uphoff calls DEED's long-term projections "fairly conservative," with total overall job growth of only nine percent over 10 years--a "sluggish rate" of less than 1 percent per year.

While the Twin Cities may be hot for IT and health care, "this is not a tide that is going to lift all boats," cautions Uphoff. He notes that some sectors, like construction, may still be shedding jobs, while other recovering sectors will need to undergo substantial change in industry structure and practice before recovering.

For example (gulp): journalism.

Sources: Kyle Uphoff, Department of Employment and Economic Development; Matt Henson, Monster.com
Writer: Jeremy Stratton

An effort to develop a regional entrepreneurship action plan for the Twin Cities continues this week with a pair of information-gathering forums.

JumpStart Community Advisors, a Cleveland-based nonprofit, is coordinating the grant-funded effort, with support from local industry and economic development groups.

Mike Mozenter, the group's president, says they've had an advantage in the Twin Cities because the region had already started work with the Brookings Institute on a metropolitan business plan. JumpStart's program will compliment the Brookings planning and focus on identifying ways to better support entrepreneurs in the region.

The JumpStart process, which kicked off in the fall, is expected to take two years to complete. Currently it's in phase one: research and planning. The team has been interviewing local entrepreneurs, investors, and economic development officials about gaps and opportunities for creating and launching new companies in the region.

A pair of community leader meetings Wednesday and Thursday are aimed at gathering more ideas and information about how the region can better serve innovators and entrepreneurs. Mozenter says they plan to conduct an online survey as well, to help gather the input of as many people as possible. Then they'll help write a business plan aimed at capitalizing on the opportunities.

Phase two consists of a year of fundraising to turn the business plan into reality, and the third phase involves JumpStart supporting the region in getting it operational.

"I think one of the preliminary conclusions is that the region has a lot of opportunity, and people there recognize that," says Mozenter. "It's a matter of putting a vehicle in place that helps bring those together and supports those [opportunities]."

This week's community gatherings are free to attend, however, all seats were already reserved for Thursday's event. RSVP for Wednesday's event here.

Source: Mike Mozenter, JumpStart Community Advisors
Writer: Dan Haugen

The Minneapolis health department is helping ten corner stores try to boost the sale of fresh produce.

The state-funded initiative is part of a broader effort to combat obesity and chronic disease by improving access to healthy, fresh foods, especially in certain underserved neighborhoods.

North Minneapolis, for example, has only two full-service grocery stores and limited transit options for getting to and from them, which leaves many residents dependent on corner stores for groceries.

Health officials realized those corner stores could be a key partner in improving food options, so they decided to design a pilot program based on similar ones in New York, New Orleans and Philadelphia. The city asked for applications from 90 corner stores, mostly on the North Side and in the Phillips neighborhood. About 15 responded and 10 were selected for the initial trial, which started this month.

"We have so many corner stores in Minneapolis, it was just a natural fit," says project specialist Aliyah Ali.

The city helped coordinate with a wholesaler, Bix Produce, to distribute fresh produce to the participating stores. It set up training for store owners on how to properly handle produce to maximize shelf life. And it came up with a specific action plan for each store involving signs, displays and store layout changes aimed at making fresh produce more visible, attractive and affordable to customers.

What makes Minneapolis' initiative unique is that the city has a ordinance to back up the program's goals. In 2008, the City Council approved the Minneapolis Staple Foods Ordinance, which requires all stores with a grocery license to carry a certain variety of fruits, vegetables, meat or protein, dairy and bread or cereal. The Healthy Corner Store Program is helping store owners comply with those rules, says Ali.

A recent review of 35 corner stores found that most were not in compliance with the ordinance and that more than a third didn't carry any fresh produce.

The city plans to track produce sales at the participating corner stores through June 2011 to see if the program boosts sales as it hopes. If it works, officials hope to expand it city wide.

Stores participating in the Healthy Corner Store Program are: Vitalife Pharmacy Rx (4151 Fremont Ave N), Lowry Food Market (628 Lowry Ave. N), One Stop Station (1604 W. Broadway), Northside Food Market (3559 Lyndale Ave. N), Glenwood Market (1501 Glenwood Ave. N), Cedar Food & Grill (2600 Cedar Ave. S), Neighborhood Grocery (814 East Franklin Ave), Shabelle Grocery (2325 E. Franklin), West Bank Grocery (417 Cedar Ave. S), and Flag Foods (2820 East 42nd St).

Source: Aliyah Ali, City of Minneapolis
Writer: Dan Haugen

As the nation recovers from a recession, it's still a depression for teenage job-seekers. The unemployment rate for teenagers was a staggering 27.1 percent last month, nearly three times the overall rate.

The recession appears to have been particularly damaging to teenagers' employment prospects, as laid-off adults trade down to jobs traditionally held by students. A new Minneapolis web startup is aiming to help put some cash in kids' pockets by connecting them with odd jobs around their neighborhood.

Rock Your Block is the brainchild of Sarah Young, who took the idea to last month's Startup Weekend event in Minneapolis, which we covered in a video. The web app will be a place where kids can search for work and advertise their services for things like raking, shoveling or babysitting.

"I wanted to provide a quick, easy, simple way for teens to find odd jobs within their neighborhoods" and avoid the hassle of putting up fliers or knocking on strangers' doors, says Young, whose income as a kid included pay for things like babysitting and dog walking. There is no Monster.com for these kind of chores, and that's what Rock Your Block wants to be.

Young and her team are in the process of working out safety and security issues. Before a child can set up an account, they need to get an adult to vouch for them and pay a sponsorship fee and for an optional background check. When they complete a job, customers can post feedback about their work, which will appear on the teenager's job history.

The company is self-funded for now. They hope to roll out a test version of the site this year with a wider beta launch in 2011.

Source: Sarah Young, Rock Your Block
Writer: Dan Haugen