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