►
Description
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey joined Minneapolis small business owners and community leaders to highlight the $37 million in new economic recovery investments the mayor is proposing with federal stimulus funding made available with the passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
Frey’s $89 million American Rescue Plan proposal includes significant investment in support for small businesses, including restaurants, job training and placement, and inclusive economic development work.
Participants:
Wendy’s House of Soul, Heather Warfield
Black Women’s Wealth Alliance, Kenya McKnight Ahad
G & L Furniture, Abe Demmaj
A
All
right
good
afternoon,
everyone
we
are
in
store
for
some
positive
news
today,
which
I
know
the
entire
city
is
in
need
of.
Before
I
get
going,
I
want
to
give
a
huge
thank
you
to
our
entire
team,
whether
working
as
city
staff
or
in
community
as
part
of
the
minneapolis
forward
community,
now
coalition
or
individual
business
owners
and
workers
who
have
done
such
an
extraordinary
job
over
this
last
year,
getting
through
unprecedented
times
and
some
of
the
most
difficult
circumstances
in
our
city's
entire
history.
A
We've
got
an
opportunity
because
we've
had
270
million
dollars
coming
in
through
the
american
rescue
act,
89
million
of
which
we're
going
to
be
able
to
allocate
in
the
immediacy
to
people
to
businesses
to
workers
who
need
it
most.
This
money
is
fashioned
to
re-ignite
our
city.
This
money
is
fashioned
to
bring
us
back
in
an
extraordinary
way
and
the
people
who
are
here
with
me
they've
been
making
it
all
happen
right
now.
You
probably
know
we
are
in
wendy's
house
of
seoul.
A
So
through
this
commercial
property
development
fund
in
the
ten
million
dollars
that
we're
allocating
here,
we
can
make
sure
that
these
same
communities
are
benefiting
from
the
valuation
increase.
They
are
benefiting
from
the
improvements
that
they
themselves
have
poured
their
blood,
sweat
and
tears
into
that's:
10
million
dollars
into
the
commercial
property
development
fund,
another
17
million
dollars
on
top
of
that
is
devoted
to
direct
business
and
worker
assistance.
A
These
are
monies
to
eliminate
the
fees
that
they
would
otherwise
have
to
pay
from
march
to
december.
This
is
making
sure
that
we're
helping
to
pay
down
some
of
the
loans
that
they
already
have.
This
is
making
sure
that
some
of
the
businesses
that
have
shut
and
closed
their
doors
over
this
last
year
have
the
ability
to
reopen
and
reopen
quickly
to
benefit
from
some
of
this
pent-up
demand
that
we're
inevitably
going
to
see.
A
A
That's
up
and
running
to
get
people
back
to
work
to
place
them
in
these
jobs,
where
we
know,
there's
going
to
be
a
heap
ton
of
demand,
part
of
making
sure
that
they're
getting
back
in
these
jobs
to
begin
with,
is
making
sure
that
they
are
connected
to
where
those
jobs
are,
and
so
we've
got
an
additional
program,
which
is
an
ambassador
one,
to
make
sure
that
those
community
connections
are
bridged
right
from
the
get-go,
but
we
didn't
stop
there.
We
wanted
to
have
monies
in
cultural
districts
as
well.
A
We've
got
about
six
cultural
districts
throughout
the
city.
These
are
areas
where
our
communities
of
color,
our
immigrant
communities,
have
stepped
up
in
a
beautiful
way.
To
make
these
communities
home
to
set
up
businesses,
we
want
to
make
sure
that
these
areas
are
revitalized.
Sadly,
but
truly,
a
lot
of
the
areas
that
were
hit
worst
by
the
pandemic
are
the
same
businesses
and
the
same
corridors
that
were
hit
most
by
the
unrest
following
the
murder
of
george
floyd.
A
This
is
the
kind
of
assistance
that
they
need
right
now,
for
everything
from
you
know:
safety
to
lighting
improvements,
to
cleaning
up
the
sidewalk,
to
make
sure
that
we've
got
people
that
are
doing
that
necessary
outreach
again
to
get
these
corridors
bolstered
and
reopening
again.
This
has
been
pretty
widely
covered.
We've
also
got
a
guaranteed
basic
income
program
as
well,
which
is
in
pilot
form
right
now.
It's
three
million
dollars.
I
believe
in
total
gonna
help
about
two
hundred
different
families
in
five
hundred
dollar
payments
per
month.
A
So
again,
big
thank
you
to
to
wendy's
house
of
soul.
Here
all
the
work
that
they've
done
and
specifically
right
now,
I'm
going
to
have
heather
warfield
come
up.
Who
has
been
doing
some
extraordinary
work
right
here
in
this
spot
in
north
minneapolis.
So
thank
you
so
much
for
your
work,
proud
to
have
you
up
to
the
to
the
microphone.
A
B
The
you
know,
the
challenges
that
we've
seen
are,
of
course,
the
violence
within
our
community.
The
price
increases
different
fees
we
have
to
pay,
but
with
what
we've
been
told
is
about
to
hopefully
happen
within
our
city
is
we're
going
to
get
assistance
with
that
again,
we've
been
very
fortunate.
We've
been
able
to
keep
our
doors
open,
keep
all
of
our
staff.
Our
catering
is
back,
you
know
increasing,
so
we
brought
some
more
staff
back
on
really
that's
that's
it.
A
A
C
C
What
I
want
to
speak
to
you
about
today,
and
also
I
want
to
just
say
that
I
am
an
influential
member
of
the
minneapolis
coalition
now
for
coalition
allison
sharkey
and
felicia
perry,
allison
sharkey
of
the
lake
street
council
and
felicia
perry
of
the
west
browary
area
and
business
coalition
are
the
co-chairs.
But
I
am
influential
it's
okay,
so
I'm
like
a
third
co-chair
if
you
will,
but
we
really
appreciate
all
of
the
work
that
this
coalition
has
done
to
help
push
our
city
forward
at
a
really
deep
and
dark
time.
C
We
got
together
last
year
to
really
push
on
this
economic
recovery
and
the
sort
of
impact
it
has
to
have
on
black
brown
and
indigenous
communities
and
injured
in
in
immigrant
communities
across
our
city.
So
in
that
we're
still
doing
a
lot
of
work
and
what
you're
hearing
today
is
just
the
starting
place.
It
isn't
the
end
of
it.
C
It's
a
starting
place
that
we're
really
proud
of,
and
we
appreciate
the
mayor,
taking
our
recommendations
and
his
staff
very
seriously
to
really
make
that
commitment
to
push
our
city
forward
despite
the
challenges
we're
facing
in
my
work.
I
am
also
proud
to
announce
today
that
I
receive
final
approval
from
the
city
of
minneapolis
for
the
community
development
fund
of
500
million
dollars
to
purchase
the
1200
west
broadway
property.
So
I
am
an
example
of
this.
C
Very
black
entrepreneur,
purchasing
commercial
space
in
north
minneapolis
a
place
that
I've
grown
up
for
35
years
of
my
life
and
that's
just
a
starting
place
too.
We
are
very
happy
that
this
fund
will
see
10
million
dollars
to
support
more
black
and
other
indigenous
immigrant
bipac
entrepreneurs
across
our
city,
that
is
the
pillar
to
wealth.
C
As
we
know,
the
pandemic
impacted
all
of
our
communities
and
impacted
the
bipoc
community
and
specifically
black
in
a
way
that
is
going
to
take
black
folks
a
much
longer
to
recover
from
the
business
workforce
household
crisises
that
we're
facing
so
in.
In
my
closing,
I
want
to
just
remind
you
that
this
is
just
a
really
important
starting
place
and
we
have
to
keep
pushing
our
economic
recovery
forward
in
our
city,
even
in
our
darkest
times.
Thank
you.
A
Thank
you
so
much
kenya,
mcknight
ahad
for
all
of
the
work
that
you're
doing
and
congratulations
on
the
the
500
000
dollars
that
will
be
going
towards
the
ownership
itself.
Next,
we've
got
up
aid,
mage
who's
been
doing
such
an
extraordinary
job,
speaking
out,
making
sure
that
we
are
recovering
in
an
extraordinary
fashion,
and
you
know
this.
A
E
E
The
city
has
passed
many
tests
and
grown
stronger.
That
was
test
harder
than
we
faced
in
the
past
year.
We
were
faced
with
unprecedented
pandemic
that
turned
our
lives
in
business
upside
down.
We,
what
shortly
followed,
was
the
tragic
murder
of
george
floyd
and
the
civil
and
race
uprising
that
has
caused
it
has
shown
me.
E
As
kenny
mcnair
said
we're
going
to
come
back
as
as
strong
as
as
ever
before,
and
I'm
hoping
that
we're
going
to
rebuild
the
city
together,
I've
lost
businesses
in
south
minneapolis.
That
did
not
turn
me
around.
I
came
back
very
hard.
That's
right
and
I
would
like
to
have
everybody
have
to
have
a
positive
attitude.
E
A
Yeah
that
does
there's
some
applause.
I
I
couldn't
have
said
it
better
myself.
You
know
the
the
city
is
coming
back
in
extraordinary
fashion.
It's
because
of
people
like
you
all
yeah.
Well
with
that
we'll
open
it
to
questions
about
this
topic.
If
out
of
respect
for
the
business
here
and
the
people
who
are
with
me,
if
you
got
a
different
topic,
you
know
let's,
let's,
let's
hang
tight
for
a
second
before
we
go
outside.
A
So
we've
provided
a
recommendation
as
to
how
to
spend
the
initial
89
million
dollars
as
part
of
the
rescue
act.
Funding
there
have
and
will
be
council
presentations
and
public
hearings
associated
with
it,
and
then
I
believe,
on
july,
2nd
the
city
council
is
primed
to
amend
and
then
approve
the
the
final
allocations-
and
you
know
the
goal
here
is
is
urgency.
A
So
the
question
is:
when
could
it
be?
Realistically,
it
depends
on
the
category
of
funding,
there's
some
funding
that
we're
going
to
be
able
to
get
out
like
immediately
after
the
approval,
there's
other
funding
that
is
going
to
require
the
formation
of
a
program
to
get
set
up.
So
it
might
take
a
little
bit
longer.
It.
G
One
of
the
barriers
is
sometimes
they
get
penalized
if
their
business
did
better
this
year
than
it
did
in
the
2019
that
they
are
comparing
the
funds
to.
How
have
are
there
any
parameters
about
how
to
help
businesses
that
have
been
affected
without
such
strict
guidelines,
holding
them
back
because
of
year
prior.
A
A
First
to
those
that
need
it
most
and
whether
that's
around
businesses
that
closed
through
the
pandemic,
getting
them
to
quickly
be
able
to
open
or
that's
setting
these
liaisons
up
front.
That
can
do
the
necessary
outreach
to
figure
out
what
your
specific
business
needs
and
then
we
can
best
determine
how
to
help.
We
can't
put
every
single
business
into
the
same
category,
because
they've
had
drastically
different
experiences
over
this
last
year
and
that's
why
we
need
to
be
providing
the
the
sensitivity
of
care
and
the
specificity
of
need
for
each
one
of
these
individual
entities.
A
G
D
A
For
for
starters,
most
every
business
in
the
city
that
signs
up
for
licenses
or
fees
associated
with
their
industry
they'll
get
a
break
right
away
and
that's
from
again
from
march
to
december,
and
so
that
is
a
wide
swath.
In
addition
to
that
wide
swath,
we
also
have
some
really
specific
and
intentional
allocations
that
are
made,
for
instance,
along
cultural
corridors
and
districts
to
in
some
of
the
acp-50
areas
that
we
see
and
also
businesses,
for
instance,
that
have
closed
but
are
planning
to
reopen.
A
A
So
I've
actually
I've
I've
got
a
missed
call
and
a
and
a
text
message
that
I
just
got
from
commissioner
steve
grow
literally
minutes
ago,
and
so
I
want
to
make
sure
that
I
have
a
conversation
with
him
about
the
the
the
strategy
moving
forward
here.
First,
but
here's
the
here's,
the
real
answer
I
mean
this
money
here
is
coveted
related.
This
is
recovering
from
the
covered
pandemic
and
economic
downturn
there.
A
We
also
need
assistance
from
in
terms
of
the
fact
that
we
had
a
number
of
these
entities
that
were
severely
hit
by
the
unrest
following
the
killing
of
george
floyd.
That
is,
monies
that
we're
hoping
to
get
and
assistance
that
we're
hoping
to
receive
through
the
state
and
I'll
note
that
for
every
dollar
that
the
city
of
minneapolis
generates
for
taxation
purposes,
we
get
about
30
cents
back,
so
we
put
in
one
dollar,
the
city
of
minneapolis
gets
30
cents
back
in
assistance
and
we're
proud
to
be
the
economic
generator
of
our
entire
state.
A
We're
we're
proud
that
we're
able
to
assist
counties
in
smaller
towns
throughout
the
state
of
minnesota,
but
when
we
need
help
as
the
city
of
minneapolis
yeah.
Absolutely
we're
calling
on
the
legislature
we're
calling
on
the
state
to
make
sure
that
minneapolis
also
gets
its
fair
share
and
necessary
resources.
F
A
Of
course
I
mean
it,
it's
it's,
of
course
it's
frustrating
for
me,
it's
more
frustrating
for
those
business
owners
that
have
been
in
this
position
for
a
long
time,
so
I
mean
I'd
talk
directly
to
them,
and
they'll
they'll
tell
you
about
how
much
this
funding
has
been
needed
and
over
how
long
and
and
the
the
the
trials
and
tribulations
that
they've
been
through
over
this
last
year.
Now
is
the
time
now
is
the
time
thanks.