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From YouTube: August 26 Council Minute
Description
In this week’s Council Minute Mayor Tim Busse focuses on the Bloomington business community including the business survey, unemployment numbers and emergency loans.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
august
17th.
Our
city
council
agenda
this
week
was
relatively
light
and
that's
not
something
we
say
very
often
so
without
any
real
time
sensitive
items.
I
want
to
take
the
opportunity
today
to
talk
about
a
subject
that
sometimes
doesn't
get
the
attention
it
deserves.
The
bloomington
business
community
business
in
bloomington
is
incredibly
important.
I
served
for
eight
years
on
the
bloomington
chamber
of
commerce
board
of
directors
and
saw
firsthand
the
great
work
done
by
a
business
community.
A
I
also
saw
the
struggles
and
challenges
that
our
businesses
face,
and
I
know
that
cobit
19
has
affected
every
single
business
in
the
city
of
bloomington.
So
I
thought
today
was
a
good
time
to
provide
an
update
on
what's
happening
around
town
with
our
business
community.
Very
soon
the
city
of
bloomington
will
be
seeking
the
views
of
business
owners
and
managers
on
the
topics
of
city
services
and
the
economy
via
the
national
business
survey.
A
This
will
be
the
fourth
time
that
bloomington
has
contracted
with
the
national
research
center
out
of
boulder
colorado
to
administer
the
national
business
survey.
The
survey
is
designed
to
give
businesses
the
chance
to
provide
feedback
on
topics
like
city
services,
the
local
business,
climate,
workforce
issues
and
the
local
economy,
and
yes,
this
year's
survey
will
also
ask
businesses
how
they're
faring
in
light
of
the
cobit
19
pandemic.
A
Why
do
we
do
this
survey?
Well,
there
are
a
couple
of
really
good
reasons.
First,
many
of
our
residents
are
employed
by
bloomington
businesses.
Getting
a
gauge
on
the
health
of
our
business
community
helps
us
understand
the
current
employment
situation
and
gives
us
an
idea
of
what
the
future
may
hold
in
a
time
like
now
when
the
unemployment
rate
in
bloomington
is
hovering
around
10
percent
because
of
covet
19,
it's
important
for
us
to
know
how
business
challenges
will
continue
to
impact
our
residents.
A
We
also
do
the
survey
because
it
asks
our
business
owners,
many
of
the
same
questions
about
city
services
that
we
include
in
our
resident
survey.
Businesses
pay
property
taxes
for
city
services
and
we
need
to
know
if
our
customers
are
satisfied
with
the
services
we
provide.
Our
snowplow
drivers
ensure
employees
can
get
to
work.
Our
utility
workers
make
sure
that
water
service
is
reliable.
A
Our
code
enforcement
staff
makes
sure
that
commercial
properties
keep
up
health
and
environmental
standards
and
our
teams
in
planning
and
building
and
inspections,
help
these
businesses
to
grow
and
expand.
If
we
can
do
these
things
better,
we
need
to
know
that
all
bloomington
businesses
will
receive
invitations
very
soon
to
participate
in
this
online
confidential
survey.
Please
do
participate.
A
The
results
will
be
published
later
this
year.
As
you
certainly
know,
the
economic
impact
of
this
pandemic
has
hit
some
industries
much
harder
than
others.
Travel
and
hospitality,
entertainment
and
bricks,
and
mortar
retail
have
been
especially
hard
hit
and
in
bloomington
those
industries
are
a
significant
part
of
our
local
economy.
A
A
In
our
last
council
meeting
on
august
24th,
I
asked
our
staff
to
provide
an
update
specific
to
homelessness
and
our
hotels,
how
it's
impacting
our
services,
such
as
police,
public
health
and
fire.
The
people
who
are
often
called
in
to
assist
county
or
social
service
providers
staff
will
be
reporting
back
on
september
14th
in
the
area
of
retail
and
entertainment.
Everyone
understands
that
the
mall
of
america
plays
an
outsized
role
in
our
regional
minnesota
economy,
not
just
our
local
bloomington
economy.
A
The
most
recently
announced
state
unemployment.
Data
from
minnesota
in
july
was
7.7
percent
in
bloomington.
That
number
was
9.9,
which
is
an
improvement
from
the
month
of
may,
when
unemployment
in
bloomington
peaked
at
12.2
percent.
Now
this
is
a
historical
anomaly,
as
you
can
see
on
this
chart,
which
I'll
admit
is
a
bit
busy.
The
city
of
bloomington,
represented
by
the
blue
line,
has
typically
tracked
closely
with
the
state
average,
which
is
the
red
line.
A
The
green
line,
the
national
average,
has
always
been
well
above
our
state
and
local
unemployment
figures,
and
that
remains
the
case
today.
While
we
are
heavily
affected
by
the
immediate
effect
of
cobit
19
to
our
hospitality
and
retail
sectors,
we're
watching
closely
the
economic
impact
to
larger
businesses
as
well.
A
We
in
bloomington
are
very
fortunate
to
have
many
successful
multinational
corporations
in
bloomington,
such
as
toro
donaldson
companies,
gn,
resound,
thermoking,
sick
skywater
technologies
and
many
more
how
the
global
economy
performs
in
the
next
year
or
two
will
definitely
affect
these
businesses
manufacturing
and
sales
jobs
provide
good
head
of
household
incomes
in
bloomington,
like
I
said,
we'll
be
watching
these
economic
trends
very
closely.
How
large
corporations
do
is
important
to
us,
but
we
know
that
small
business
is
the
lifeblood
of
every
community.
A
The
application
period
closed
in
july
and
our
staff
is
busy
getting
that
money
out
the
door
69
qualifying
small
businesses
and
39
self-employed
businesses
have
been
processed,
and
the
funds
should
begin
dispersing
this
week.
That
accounts
for
a
little
more
than
half
of
the
funds
and
the
applications
that
we
received.
Our
staff
is
still
working
with
the
remaining
businesses
to
collect
their
documentation
and
get
the
assistance
to
them
that
they
need
to
help
stay
afloat.