The Twin Cities - Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

Updated November 2016

Minneapolis, with its wide boulevards, organized grid layout, and modern downtown, stands in striking contrast to the city of St. Paul across the river, with its late-Victorian architecture, narrower streets, and irregularly shaped neighborhoods. While the Twin Cities have a long history of rivalry and differ in appearance, together they are home to many community wealth building initiatives and organizations.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2015 estimates, the Twin Cities are home to nearly 711,800 people, with Minneapolis' population exceeding St. Paul’s by about 100,000. While both cities suffered population declines that peaked in the 1970s, St. Paul and Minneapolis have experienced a wave new development in recent years, growing by 6 and 7 percent, respectively, between 2010 and 2015.

Traditionally, Minneapolis had a large Scandinavian community, while Irish and German immigrants were more prominent in St. Paul. In the 1990s, a new wave of immigrants arrived from Mexico, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, making the Twin Cities home to the largest Somali population in the United States. Today, both cities are roughly two-thirds white American (60 percent in St. Paul and 64 percent in Minneapolis), while African Americans make up roughly a sixth of the population (16 percent in St. Paul and 19 percent in Minneapolis). Approximately a tenth of the population is Hispanic American in both cities, while the presence of Asian Americans is significantly higher in St. Paul (15 percent versus 6 percent).

With both Minneapolis and St. Paul having rebounded in recent years, affordable housing has become a prominent issue. As one of the nation's most racially segregated urban areas, a disproportionate number of people of color have been unable to keep up with rising property values. In response, two community land trusts within the Twin Cities, City of Lakes CLT and Rondo CLT, are working to keep housing within the region permanently affordable for generations to come.  Rondo’s approach is especially unique: in addition to constructing new homes, the CLT creates affordable housing by moving buildings slated for demolition to vacant lots and then rehabbing them, an effort credited with creating 15 housing units and diverting over 15 million pounds of waste from landfills.

The Twin Cities are also home to numerous CDCs, such as East Side Neighborhood Development Company, which works to generate wealth and maintain diversity within the community and consciously strives to ensure the majority of homes, jobs, and businesses it supports are available to and operated by people of color.  In 2015 alone, the CDC rehabbed 40 homes, developed 10 new homes, and completed several capital improvement projects—developments which brought over $7 million in new housing and economic development to the area.  CDFIs are also playing an important role in community wealth building, especially among communities of color.  For example, since 2004, the African Development Center (ADC), which seeks to grow businesses, build wealth, and increase reinvestment in Minnesota’s African communities, has lent more than $6 million to small businesses and entrepreneurs, leveraging more than $12 million in small business investment and creating or retaining over 1,000 jobs.

Another especially innovative nonprofit is Nexus Community Partners.  Founded in 2004, Nexus works across the Twin Cities region to build more engaged and powerful communities of color by supporting community-building initiatives that expand community assets and foster social and human capital. 

An overview of these and other community wealth building efforts follows:

Nexus Community Partners

Founded in 2004, Nexus Community Partners works across the Twin Cities region to build more engaged and powerful communities of color by supporting community-building initiatives that expand community assets and foster social and human capital.  The nonprofit’s work hinges on a three-pronged approach focused on “authorship,” building infrastructure for stronger community engagement learning and practice; “leadership,” investing in and cultivating leaders of color who are advancing an equity agenda; and “ownership,” adopting a community wealth building framework prioritizing local and equitable ownership and control of wealth, mutually reinforcing economic enterprises, and locally anchored assets.

Anchor Institutions

Office of Business & Community Economic Development, University of Minnesota

Established in 1999, the Office for Business & Community Economic Development seeks to leverage the assets and resources of the University of Minnesota to create programs and services that address real urban issues.  To do so, the office is charged with supporting the University’s goal to procure from businesses owned and operated by people of color, women, and people with disabilities—an effort that is credited with directing about $500 million to targeted businesses.  The office also provides small business development services and runs a Technology Empowerment Center focused on helping underserved populations access information technologies.

Community Development Corporations (CDCs)

Aeon

Founded as the Central Community Housing Trust in 1986, Aeon provides affordable housing to low-income individuals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. Serving more than 4,500 people annually, Aeon owns and manages 36 properties and 2,700 units of affordable housing. Read more about Aeon...

Common Bond Communities

Founded in 1971, Common Bond Communities is the largest nonprofit developer of affordable housing in the Midwest. It owns or manages more than 5,700 affordable rental apartments and townhomes that are home to over 9,000 residents in 50 cities throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The nonprofit also provides a range of free, on-site services based on residents’ needs, which include health and wellness clinics, youth mentoring, adult education, job readiness and search services, financial literacy education, and financial coaching.

East Side Neighborhood Development Company

Striving to generate wealth and maintain diversity within neighborhoods, East Side Neighborhood Development Company was founded in 1979 in response to disinvestment in the Payne/Phalen Lake community.  In 2015, the CDC rehabbed 40 homes, developed 10 new homes, and completed several capital improvement projects— developments which together brought over $7 million in new housing and economic development to the area.  Committed to racial equity, the CDC also strives to ensure the majority of homes, jobs, and businesses it supports are available to and operated by people of color.

Hope Community

Located just south of downtown Minneapolis and founded in 1977, Hope Community works to revitalize one of the most diverse and economically challenged areas in Minneapolis. The Hope Block, a ten-year development effort, now encompasses 50 affordable rentals, 27 supportive housing units, and community green space.  Grounded by the belief that “buildings alone do not make community; people must build a community,” all of the CDC’s development work involves extensive community engagement.

Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers

Founded in 1989 when 11 nonprofit developers decided to work more closely together, Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD) is an association of nonprofit community development organizations focused on boosting neighborhood wealth and resources through housing and economic development initiatives.  Through its Open to Business Program, MCCD provides technical assistance to new businesses and small loans to emerging entrepreneurs who cannot access traditional financing. Since 2003, MCCD has loaned over $6.7 million to more than 550 entrepreneurs.

Neighborhood Development Alliance

Neighborhood Development Alliance (NeDA) builds affordable housing and empowers communities through financial education and guidance.  Since its establishment in 1999, the nonprofit is credited with building or rehabbing 175 homes on the West Side of Saint Paul, developing real estate projects totaling $30,000,000 in the East Metro area, providing homebuyer education to 4,500 people, and helping 5,000 families avoid foreclosure.

Neighborhood Development Center

Aiming to help those in historically underserved neighborhoods develop businesses that enrich their economic and social fabric, Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) provides culturally competent, integrated business services in Minneapolis and St. Paul.  To date, it has loaned over $13.7 million to more than 570 businesses, participated in the redevelopment of six formerly blighted properties that now house over 120 small businesses, and trained 4,690 aspiring entrepreneurs, 85 percent of whom are people of color.  Its work is credited with returning $73 million to the Twin Cities economy every year.

Project for Pride in Living

Established in 1972, Project for Pride in Living (PPL) is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering low-income people so that they can become self-reliant.  PPL owns or manages more than 1,100 units of affordable or supportive housing throughout the Twin Cities metro area and operates a pre-school and two high schools. Through its affordable housing, jobs and employment training, youth development, and community support services, the nonprofit serves more than 13,000 people a year.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)

African Development Center

African Development Center (ADC) seeks to grow businesses, build wealth, and increase reinvestment in Minnesota’s African communities.  To do so, the CDFI provides microloans to small businesses and culturally competent workshops and consultations on financial literacy, business development, and home ownership.  Since 2004, ADC has trained more than 1,500 people and has lent more than $6 million to small businesses and entrepreneurs, leveraging more than $12 million in small business investment and creating or retaining over 1,000 jobs.

Community Reinvestment Fund

Minneapolis-based Community Reinvestment Fund works to raise capital on behalf of community development lenders through the secondary market for loans. Started in 1989, the group has injected hundreds of millions of dollars into low-income and economically disadvantaged communities across the country to help stimulate job creation and economic development, provide affordable housing, and construct community facilities.  Its work is credited with creating or retaining 73,000 jobs, developing 19,000 units of affordable housing, and directly benefiting 1.7 million people.

Latino Economic Development Center

Based in Minneapolis, the Latino Economic Development Center is a statewide membership organization working to create economic opportunities for Latinos.  The CDFI provides a range of trainings and classes for entrepreneurs aiming to start, expand, or improve a business.  It also has several loan programs, including a cooperative loan fund that provides loans up to $25,000 for those aiming to start or expand a cooperative enterprise.

Nonprofits Assistance Fund

Based in Minneapolis, the Nonprofits Assistance Fund aims to strengthen the community by investing capital and expertise into nonprofit organizations.  In fiscal year 2015, the CDFI provided over $16 million in working capital and facilities loans and 1,362 hours of financial technical assistance to a wide range of 501(c)(3) organizations operating across Minnesota and its neighboring communities.

Shared Capital (formerly the North Country Cooperative Development Fund)

Based in Minneapolis, Shared Capital is a national CDFI loan fund that works to connect co-ops and capital to build economic democracy.  A cooperative association of more than 175 cooperatives in around 30 states, Shared Capital accepts donations and investments from its members and social investors, and then uses the funds to finance the creation and expansion of cooperatively-owned businesses and housing across the country.  Committed to advancing racial equity and social and economic justice, the CDFI specifically aims to fund cooperatives organized by disadvantaged communities that build economic opportunity, create living wage jobs, provide access to healthy food, and offer dignified, affordable housing.  Since its establishment in 1978, it has provided more than $40 million in total financing to more than 800 cooperative projects.

Sunrise Banks

Sunrise Banks is a family-owned bank headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota with six branches, most of which are located in the urban core of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Its Impact Deposit Fund enables all customers with depository accounts to invest their savings at competitive interest rates; these funds—which now total more than $125 million—are then used to finance community projects and development. The CDFI made over $135 million in loans to underserved communities in 2015.

Community Land Trusts (CLTs)

City of Lakes Community Land Trust

City of Lakes Community Land Trust grew out of an effort by several neighborhood organizations to establish permanently affordable housing for low- and medium-income residents in Minneapolis. Partially funded by the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and the State of Minnesota, CLCLT has helped more than 200 families buy homes since its founding in 2002.

Rondo Community Land Trust

In response to the displacement of low-income residents by highway construction projects, Rondo Community Land Trust was formed in 1993 to provide permanently affordable housing to residents in Summit-University and Lexington-Hamline, two neighborhoods in St. Paul. It has since expanded to include all residents of Ramsey County who make less than 80 percent of the area median income.  In addition to constructing new homes with sustainable features, Rondo CLT creates affordable housing by moving buildings slated for demolition to vacant lots and then rehabbing them.  To date, this effort has moved 12 buildings, creating 15 housing units and diverting over 15 million pounds of waste from landfills.

Cooperatives (Co-ops)

Mississippi Market

Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op sells local, organic, and affordable food.  Founded in 1979, the co-op now has 3 locations, 268 employees, more than 16,150 members, and $28.7 million in annual sales.  With a mission to create positive change in the community by influencing the production, distribution and enjoyment of food, the co-op offers classes on healthy and sustainable living, sponsors community events, raises funds for area nonprofits, and donates surplus goods to local food pantries.

Riverton Community Housing

Beginning as an initiative to provide University of Minnesota students with affordable housing, Riverton Community Housing focuses on promoting community-oriented and democratically run student housing cooperatives. Riverton now manages six buildings with over 480 units.

Seward Co-op

Founded in 1972, Seward Co-op is a natural foods cooperative with 14,000 members, 255 employees, and nearly $34 million in total sales. The co-op has two stores in Minneapolis, as well as a café that offers seasonal dishes made from fresh ingredients purchased daily, and strives to operate as sustainably as possible.  Committed to “equitable economics,” the co-op generated 41 percent of its 2015 sales from products supplied by local, small-scale, and/or cooperative farmers and producers.

The Hub Bike Co-op

Founded in 2002 in direct response to the “profit first mentality” of some businesses, The Hub Bike Co-op is Minneapolis’ only worker-owned bike store.  With four locations across the city, the co-op sells bikes, provides bike-related services, and offers a range of classes focused on bike maintenance and safety.  Committed to the community, the co-op directs five percent of profits to support cycling, the community at large, and the environment.

The Seward Community Café

Collectively owned and operated since 1974, the Seward Community Café is the oldest collectively run business in Minneapolis.  The Café strives to offer products that are independent, local, organic, and sustainable while working to promote a stronger community. The co-op owners are committed to creating a work environment that fosters respect, equality and mutual support between workers, and are guided by principles of social and environmental responsibility.

Wedge Community Co-op

Founded in 1974 by a group of neighbors, Wedge Community Co-op became the first certified organic grocery store in Minnesota in 2002 and now has 16,000 members across the metro area.  In order to meet the demand for organic produce, the co-op created its own wholesale distribution department in 1999 that now serves as a major distributor, bringing perishable products to co-ops in six states, and working with local and regional producers to bring their products to market.  In January 2016, the co-op opened the Wedge Table, a cooperative market, community room and café, featuring organic, local, and homemade products.  Committed to the community and environment, the co-op makes grants to groups working to create a sustainable future and strives to operate as sustainably as possible.

Cross-Sectoral

Northland Institute

Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1996, Northland's mission is to develop innovative asset-building strategies for low-income individuals, entrepreneurial non-profits, and community economic development organizations. The Institute is an active participant in national Individual Development Account (IDA) coalitions, promotes social enterprise, and advocates ESOPs as a way to build wealth among asset-poor workers and root businesses more firmly in their communities.  One key initiative it developed and now manages is the Minnesota Community Capital Fund (MCCF), which aims to increase the availability of gap-financing capital for Minnesota businesses by pooling local economic development dollars and accessing national capital markets.  Since its inception in 2003, MCCF has made 91 loans totaling more than $36 million to businesses and nonprofits across the state.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

Haldeman-Homme

Founded in 1924 as a private company specializing in light material handling equipment for industry, Haldeman-Homme established an employee stock ownership plan in 1977. By 1987, the firm was completely worker-owned. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Haldeman-Homme has expanded its business to include layouts, technical information, engineering data and services, and final installation across many industries. The firm now has 150 employee-owners and operates in 19 states.

Stylmark Inc.

Founded in 1954 to produce a new, quieter, wheel-based rolling door mechanism, Stylmark has expanded to become a manufacturer of aluminum and steel products for retail, hospitality, entertainment, and other commercial environments. As a worker-owned company since 1998, Stylmark has 150 employees, revenue exceeding $20 million, and is considered one of the 50 largest companies in its industry.

Walman Optical

Founded in 1915, Walman Optical is the nation’s largest independent ophthalmic company with more than 40 branch offices nationwide. The 100 percent worker-owned company has over 1,000 employees working across 19 states, and revenue topping $500 million annually.

Individual Wealth Building

Asian Economic Development Association

Established in 2006, the Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA) strives to increase economic opportunities in the Twin Cities for Asian Americans.  To do so, the nonprofit provides small business development services, financial education, access to credit, and creative place-making services.  Aiming to build racial equity and ensure the inclusion of low-income Asian Minnesotans, AEDA also engages in advocacy and policy work.

Eastside Financial Center

Eastside Financial Center provides integrated financial and employment services to help families and individuals create and build financial assets that improve their financial wellbeing.  Key services include financial coaching, employment coaching, screening for public benefits, job-seeker and money management workshops, banking products, and free tax clinics.  The nonprofit has also launched innovative matched savings account programs in partnership with other local nonprofits, including the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA).

Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON)

Established in 2006, Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) strives to broaden economic development opportunities and build wealth for low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs in north Minneapolis.  To do so, the nonprofit provides business training, technical assistance, small business financing, and affordable co-working office space.  It is credited with supporting over 1,000 entrepreneurs and helping to establish or grow 60 area businesses.

Local Food Systems

Hmong American Farmers Association

Founded and now led by family farmers, the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) strives to foster prosperity among Hmong farmers through cooperative endeavors, capacity building, and advocacy.  Its work is grounded in communitarian values and based around the Whole Food Model, which explicates that all aspects of the “farm-to-fork system” must be addressed simultaneously to build real intergenerational, community wealth. In 2014, HAFA established a 155-acre incubator and research farm, an initiative aimed at providing Hmong farmers with access to farmland near metro areas, educating farmers about sustainable agricultural practices, and preserving land for food production.

New State & Local Policies

Wireless Minnesota

Minneapolis’ “Wireless Minnesota” network covers 59 square miles of the city, making it one of the largest areas covered by wireless worldwide. To create the network, the city partnered with USI Wireless, which now offers free accounts to community sites that provide computer access to the public, technology literacy training, and/or technology support to underserved communities.  The network also includes 117 "Wireless Minneapolis" hotspots throughout the city from which anyone can access the Internet for free. Five percent of USI Wireless’ profits support a “digital inclusion fund” which since 2007 has granted a total of $400,000 to groups working to promote digital literacy and bridge the digital divide.

Social Enterprise

Appetite for Change

Appetite for Change is a community-led organization that uses food to foster health, wealth, and social change in North Minneapolis. Its social enterprises include Kindred Kitchen, which provides affordable, high quality commercial kitchen space and business technical services to small, locally-based food businesses, and Breaking Bread Café and Catering, a restaurant providing training and jobs for community residents.  The nonprofit currently provides jobs or internships to 46 area youth and supports 53 community-owned food start-ups or businesses.

Better Futures Minnesota

Established in 2007, Better Futures Minnesota helps men with a history of incarceration, homelessness, poverty, and untreated mental and physical health challenges achieve self-sufficiency.  A core part of its program is its social enterprise, which provides on-the-job training in deconstruction, warehouse safety, appliance recycling, janitorial services, and snow and lawn care equipment training and maintenance.  Materials salvaged through its deconstruction work are sold in its ReUse Warehouse, diverting about 700 tons of building materials a year from area landfills and providing revenue to help support the nonprofit’s outreach and supportive services.  In 2015, the social enterprise employed 72 men.

Cycles for Change

Cycles for Change aims to build a diverse and empowered community of bicyclists in the Twin Cities area.  Its programs include free bicycle repair, trainings to promote bicycle safety and confidence, and youth apprenticeships focused on job training and leadership development.  To fund its programs, it runs two retail shops from which it sells donated and used bikes and offers repair services.

Emerge

Founded in 1995, Emerge is place-based nonprofit focused on helping people in Minneapolis and Cedar Riverside who are facing significant obstacles to find a career pathway and achieve financial stability.  A core part of its long-standing programming has been EmergeWorks, a social enterprise that provides staffing services to businesses in the Twin Cities.  In 2015, Emerge merged with Momentum Enterprises, which brought three new social enterprises to the nonprofit:  Second Chance Recycling, which recycles mattresses, box springs, batteries, and medical blue wrap; Custom Manufacturing, which performs assembly, packaging, and wood fabrication work; and Furnish Office and Home, a nonprofit retail store in Northeast Minneapolis that sells office and home furnishings. In 2015, the four enterprises employed 88 people.

Minnesota Diversified Industries

Over the past five decades, St. Paul-based Minnesota Diversified Industries (MDI) has employed a social enterprise model to assist people with disabilities and disadvantages by offering progressive development and job opportunities. Headquartered in the Twin Cities with three additional locations across Minnesota, the nonprofit provides standard and custom packaging solutions, production and fulfillment services, and environmental services for business customers.  As of the end of 2015, MDI employed over 650 workers (43 percent of whom were people with disabilities) and had gross revenues of over $45 million (nearly 99 percent coming from business sales).  Employees work an average of 30 hours per week, earning $9.88 an hour.

Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation

Urban Ventures aims to close the gaps that perpetuate urban poverty.  A key part of its approach are social enterprises, which it uses to provide education and training to youth and families, as well as to generate revenues to fund its youth and family focused programs/services.  Its five social enterprises include CityKid Greenway Café, which sells beverages and affordable produce, and provides free summer meals to children; CityKid Mobile Market, which sells subsidized fresh, pesticide-free produce in food deserts; CityKid Java, which sells coffee to area businesses and organizations; CityKid Farms, which grows and sells fresh produce; and CityKid Honey, which produces raw, local honey.

State & Local Investments

Metropolitan Council

With a mission to foster efficient economic growth for a prosperous region, Metropolitan Council serves as the Twin Cities’ regional policymaking body, planning agency, and services and infrastructure provider (including transportation, wastewater treatment, regional parks, planning, and affordable housing).  Striving to foster community vitality, the Council administers the Livable Communities Program that helps communities in the region fund economic revitalization, affordable housing, and development connecting different land uses and transportation. From 1996 to January 2016, the program awarded nearly 1,000 grants totaling over $311 million— investments credited with building or rehabbing nearly 20,000 affordable housing units, cleaning 2,100 acres of polluted land, and creating or retaining 41,000 jobs.

University & Community Partnerships

Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (University of Minnesota)

University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) aims to connect the resources of the University of Minnesota with the interests and needs of urban communities and the broader region.  To do so, CURA focuses on collaborating with communities and agencies to define and address their research and technical assistance needs, fostering and supporting applied research projects, disseminating research results, and convening public events to discuss key issues, explore policy alternatives, and identify new research opportunities.  It also runs several small grant programs, such as its Artist Neighborhood Partnership Initiative, which provides grants to artists working to foster more equitable communities in the Twin Cities.

Community Development Corporations (CDCs)

Aeon

Founded as the Central Community Housing Trust in 1986, Aeon provides affordable housing to low-income individuals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. Serving more than 4,500 people annually, Aeon owns and manages 36 properties and 2,700 units of affordable housing. Read more about Aeon...

Common Bond Communities

Founded in 1971, Common Bond Communities is the largest nonprofit developer of affordable housing in the Midwest. It owns or manages more than 5,700 affordable rental apartments and townhomes that are home to over 9,000 residents in 50 cities throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The nonprofit also provides a range of free, on-site services based on residents’ needs, which include health and wellness clinics, youth mentoring, adult education, job readiness and search services, financial literacy education, and financial coaching.

East Side Neighborhood Development Company

Striving to generate wealth and maintain diversity within neighborhoods, East Side Neighborhood Development Company was founded in 1979 in response to disinvestment in the Payne/Phalen Lake community.  In 2015, the CDC rehabbed 40 homes, developed 10 new homes, and completed several capital improvement projects— developments which together brought over $7 million in new housing and economic development to the area.  Committed to racial equity, the CDC also strives to ensure the majority of homes, jobs, and businesses it supports are available to and operated by people of color.

Hope Community

Located just south of downtown Minneapolis and founded in 1977, Hope Community works to revitalize one of the most diverse and economically challenged areas in Minneapolis. The Hope Block, a ten-year development effort, now encompasses 50 affordable rentals, 27 supportive housing units, and community green space.  Grounded by the belief that “buildings alone do not make community; people must build a community,” all of the CDC’s development work involves extensive community engagement.

Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers

Founded in 1989 when 11 nonprofit developers decided to work more closely together, Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD) is an association of nonprofit community development organizations focused on boosting neighborhood wealth and resources through housing and economic development initiatives.  Through its Open to Business Program, MCCD provides technical assistance to new businesses and small loans to emerging entrepreneurs who cannot access traditional financing. Since 2003, MCCD has loaned over $6.7 million to more than 550 entrepreneurs.

Neighborhood Development Alliance

Neighborhood Development Alliance (NeDA) builds affordable housing and empowers communities through financial education and guidance.  Since its establishment in 1999, the nonprofit is credited with building or rehabbing 175 homes on the West Side of Saint Paul, developing real estate projects totaling $30,000,000 in the East Metro area, providing homebuyer education to 4,500 people, and helping 5,000 families avoid foreclosure.

Neighborhood Development Center

Aiming to help those in historically underserved neighborhoods develop businesses that enrich their economic and social fabric, Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) provides culturally competent, integrated business services in Minneapolis and St. Paul.  To date, it has loaned over $13.7 million to more than 570 businesses, participated in the redevelopment of six formerly blighted properties that now house over 120 small businesses, and trained 4,690 aspiring entrepreneurs, 85 percent of whom are people of color.  Its work is credited with returning $73 million to the Twin Cities economy every year.

Project for Pride in Living

Established in 1972, Project for Pride in Living (PPL) is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering low-income people so that they can become self-reliant.  PPL owns or manages more than 1,100 units of affordable or supportive housing throughout the Twin Cities metro area and operates a pre-school and two high schools. Through its affordable housing, jobs and employment training, youth development, and community support services, the nonprofit serves more than 13,000 people a year.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)

African Development Center

African Development Center (ADC) seeks to grow businesses, build wealth, and increase reinvestment in Minnesota’s African communities.  To do so, the CDFI provides microloans to small businesses and culturally competent workshops and consultations on financial literacy, business development, and home ownership.  Since 2004, ADC has trained more than 1,500 people and has lent more than $6 million to small businesses and entrepreneurs, leveraging more than $12 million in small business investment and creating or retaining over 1,000 jobs.

Community Reinvestment Fund

Minneapolis-based Community Reinvestment Fund works to raise capital on behalf of community development lenders through the secondary market for loans. Started in 1989, the group has injected hundreds of millions of dollars into low-income and economically disadvantaged communities across the country to help stimulate job creation and economic development, provide affordable housing, and construct community facilities.  Its work is credited with creating or retaining 73,000 jobs, developing 19,000 units of affordable housing, and directly benefiting 1.7 million people.

Latino Economic Development Center

Based in Minneapolis, the Latino Economic Development Center is a statewide membership organization working to create economic opportunities for Latinos.  The CDFI provides a range of trainings and classes for entrepreneurs aiming to start, expand, or improve a business.  It also has several loan programs, including a cooperative loan fund that provides loans up to $25,000 for those aiming to start or expand a cooperative enterprise.

Nonprofits Assistance Fund

Based in Minneapolis, the Nonprofits Assistance Fund aims to strengthen the community by investing capital and expertise into nonprofit organizations.  In fiscal year 2015, the CDFI provided over $16 million in working capital and facilities loans and 1,362 hours of financial technical assistance to a wide range of 501(c)(3) organizations operating across Minnesota and its neighboring communities.

Shared Capital (formerly the North Country Cooperative Development Fund)

Based in Minneapolis, Shared Capital is a national CDFI loan fund that works to connect co-ops and capital to build economic democracy.  A cooperative association of more than 175 cooperatives in around 30 states, Shared Capital accepts donations and investments from its members and social investors, and then uses the funds to finance the creation and expansion of cooperatively-owned businesses and housing across the country.  Committed to advancing racial equity and social and economic justice, the CDFI specifically aims to fund cooperatives organized by disadvantaged communities that build economic opportunity, create living wage jobs, provide access to healthy food, and offer dignified, affordable housing.  Since its establishment in 1978, it has provided more than $40 million in total financing to more than 800 cooperative projects.

Sunrise Banks

Sunrise Banks is a family-owned bank headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota with six branches, most of which are located in the urban core of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Its Impact Deposit Fund enables all customers with depository accounts to invest their savings at competitive interest rates; these funds—which now total more than $125 million—are then used to finance community projects and development. The CDFI made over $135 million in loans to underserved communities in 2015.

Social Enterprise

Appetite for Change

Appetite for Change is a community-led organization that uses food to foster health, wealth, and social change in North Minneapolis. Its social enterprises include Kindred Kitchen, which provides affordable, high quality commercial kitchen space and business technical services to small, locally-based food businesses, and Breaking Bread Café and Catering, a restaurant providing training and jobs for community residents.  The nonprofit currently provides jobs or internships to 46 area youth and supports 53 community-owned food start-ups or businesses.

Better Futures Minnesota

Established in 2007, Better Futures Minnesota helps men with a history of incarceration, homelessness, poverty, and untreated mental and physical health challenges achieve self-sufficiency.  A core part of its program is its social enterprise, which provides on-the-job training in deconstruction, warehouse safety, appliance recycling, janitorial services, and snow and lawn care equipment training and maintenance.  Materials salvaged through its deconstruction work are sold in its ReUse Warehouse, diverting about 700 tons of building materials a year from area landfills and providing revenue to help support the nonprofit’s outreach and supportive services.  In 2015, the social enterprise employed 72 men.

Cycles for Change

Cycles for Change aims to build a diverse and empowered community of bicyclists in the Twin Cities area.  Its programs include free bicycle repair, trainings to promote bicycle safety and confidence, and youth apprenticeships focused on job training and leadership development.  To fund its programs, it runs two retail shops from which it sells donated and used bikes and offers repair services.

Emerge

Founded in 1995, Emerge is place-based nonprofit focused on helping people in Minneapolis and Cedar Riverside who are facing significant obstacles to find a career pathway and achieve financial stability.  A core part of its long-standing programming has been EmergeWorks, a social enterprise that provides staffing services to businesses in the Twin Cities.  In 2015, Emerge merged with Momentum Enterprises, which brought three new social enterprises to the nonprofit:  Second Chance Recycling, which recycles mattresses, box springs, batteries, and medical blue wrap; Custom Manufacturing, which performs assembly, packaging, and wood fabrication work; and Furnish Office and Home, a nonprofit retail store in Northeast Minneapolis that sells office and home furnishings. In 2015, the four enterprises employed 88 people.

Minnesota Diversified Industries

Over the past five decades, St. Paul-based Minnesota Diversified Industries (MDI) has employed a social enterprise model to assist people with disabilities and disadvantages by offering progressive development and job opportunities. Headquartered in the Twin Cities with three additional locations across Minnesota, the nonprofit provides standard and custom packaging solutions, production and fulfillment services, and environmental services for business customers.  As of the end of 2015, MDI employed over 650 workers (43 percent of whom were people with disabilities) and had gross revenues of over $45 million (nearly 99 percent coming from business sales).  Employees work an average of 30 hours per week, earning $9.88 an hour.

Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation

Urban Ventures aims to close the gaps that perpetuate urban poverty.  A key part of its approach are social enterprises, which it uses to provide education and training to youth and families, as well as to generate revenues to fund its youth and family focused programs/services.  Its five social enterprises include CityKid Greenway Café, which sells beverages and affordable produce, and provides free summer meals to children; CityKid Mobile Market, which sells subsidized fresh, pesticide-free produce in food deserts; CityKid Java, which sells coffee to area businesses and organizations; CityKid Farms, which grows and sells fresh produce; and CityKid Honey, which produces raw, local honey.

Individual Wealth Building

Asian Economic Development Association

Established in 2006, the Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA) strives to increase economic opportunities in the Twin Cities for Asian Americans.  To do so, the nonprofit provides small business development services, financial education, access to credit, and creative place-making services.  Aiming to build racial equity and ensure the inclusion of low-income Asian Minnesotans, AEDA also engages in advocacy and policy work.

Eastside Financial Center

Eastside Financial Center provides integrated financial and employment services to help families and individuals create and build financial assets that improve their financial wellbeing.  Key services include financial coaching, employment coaching, screening for public benefits, job-seeker and money management workshops, banking products, and free tax clinics.  The nonprofit has also launched innovative matched savings account programs in partnership with other local nonprofits, including the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA).

Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON)

Established in 2006, Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) strives to broaden economic development opportunities and build wealth for low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs in north Minneapolis.  To do so, the nonprofit provides business training, technical assistance, small business financing, and affordable co-working office space.  It is credited with supporting over 1,000 entrepreneurs and helping to establish or grow 60 area businesses.

University & Community Partnerships

Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (University of Minnesota)

University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) aims to connect the resources of the University of Minnesota with the interests and needs of urban communities and the broader region.  To do so, CURA focuses on collaborating with communities and agencies to define and address their research and technical assistance needs, fostering and supporting applied research projects, disseminating research results, and convening public events to discuss key issues, explore policy alternatives, and identify new research opportunities.  It also runs several small grant programs, such as its Artist Neighborhood Partnership Initiative, which provides grants to artists working to foster more equitable communities in the Twin Cities.

Community Land Trusts (CLTs)

City of Lakes Community Land Trust

City of Lakes Community Land Trust grew out of an effort by several neighborhood organizations to establish permanently affordable housing for low- and medium-income residents in Minneapolis. Partially funded by the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and the State of Minnesota, CLCLT has helped more than 200 families buy homes since its founding in 2002.

Rondo Community Land Trust

In response to the displacement of low-income residents by highway construction projects, Rondo Community Land Trust was formed in 1993 to provide permanently affordable housing to residents in Summit-University and Lexington-Hamline, two neighborhoods in St. Paul. It has since expanded to include all residents of Ramsey County who make less than 80 percent of the area median income.  In addition to constructing new homes with sustainable features, Rondo CLT creates affordable housing by moving buildings slated for demolition to vacant lots and then rehabbing them.  To date, this effort has moved 12 buildings, creating 15 housing units and diverting over 15 million pounds of waste from landfills.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

Haldeman-Homme

Founded in 1924 as a private company specializing in light material handling equipment for industry, Haldeman-Homme established an employee stock ownership plan in 1977. By 1987, the firm was completely worker-owned. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Haldeman-Homme has expanded its business to include layouts, technical information, engineering data and services, and final installation across many industries. The firm now has 150 employee-owners and operates in 19 states.

Stylmark Inc.

Founded in 1954 to produce a new, quieter, wheel-based rolling door mechanism, Stylmark has expanded to become a manufacturer of aluminum and steel products for retail, hospitality, entertainment, and other commercial environments. As a worker-owned company since 1998, Stylmark has 150 employees, revenue exceeding $20 million, and is considered one of the 50 largest companies in its industry.

Walman Optical

Founded in 1915, Walman Optical is the nation’s largest independent ophthalmic company with more than 40 branch offices nationwide. The 100 percent worker-owned company has over 1,000 employees working across 19 states, and revenue topping $500 million annually.

Local Food Systems

Hmong American Farmers Association

Founded and now led by family farmers, the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) strives to foster prosperity among Hmong farmers through cooperative endeavors, capacity building, and advocacy.  Its work is grounded in communitarian values and based around the Whole Food Model, which explicates that all aspects of the “farm-to-fork system” must be addressed simultaneously to build real intergenerational, community wealth. In 2014, HAFA established a 155-acre incubator and research farm, an initiative aimed at providing Hmong farmers with access to farmland near metro areas, educating farmers about sustainable agricultural practices, and preserving land for food production.

State & Local Investments

Metropolitan Council

With a mission to foster efficient economic growth for a prosperous region, Metropolitan Council serves as the Twin Cities’ regional policymaking body, planning agency, and services and infrastructure provider (including transportation, wastewater treatment, regional parks, planning, and affordable housing).  Striving to foster community vitality, the Council administers the Livable Communities Program that helps communities in the region fund economic revitalization, affordable housing, and development connecting different land uses and transportation. From 1996 to January 2016, the program awarded nearly 1,000 grants totaling over $311 million— investments credited with building or rehabbing nearly 20,000 affordable housing units, cleaning 2,100 acres of polluted land, and creating or retaining 41,000 jobs.

Cooperatives (Co-ops)

Mississippi Market

Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op sells local, organic, and affordable food.  Founded in 1979, the co-op now has 3 locations, 268 employees, more than 16,150 members, and $28.7 million in annual sales.  With a mission to create positive change in the community by influencing the production, distribution and enjoyment of food, the co-op offers classes on healthy and sustainable living, sponsors community events, raises funds for area nonprofits, and donates surplus goods to local food pantries.

Riverton Community Housing

Beginning as an initiative to provide University of Minnesota students with affordable housing, Riverton Community Housing focuses on promoting community-oriented and democratically run student housing cooperatives. Riverton now manages six buildings with over 480 units.

Seward Co-op

Founded in 1972, Seward Co-op is a natural foods cooperative with 14,000 members, 255 employees, and nearly $34 million in total sales. The co-op has two stores in Minneapolis, as well as a café that offers seasonal dishes made from fresh ingredients purchased daily, and strives to operate as sustainably as possible.  Committed to “equitable economics,” the co-op generated 41 percent of its 2015 sales from products supplied by local, small-scale, and/or cooperative farmers and producers.

The Hub Bike Co-op

Founded in 2002 in direct response to the “profit first mentality” of some businesses, The Hub Bike Co-op is Minneapolis’ only worker-owned bike store.  With four locations across the city, the co-op sells bikes, provides bike-related services, and offers a range of classes focused on bike maintenance and safety.  Committed to the community, the co-op directs five percent of profits to support cycling, the community at large, and the environment.

The Seward Community Café

Collectively owned and operated since 1974, the Seward Community Café is the oldest collectively run business in Minneapolis.  The Café strives to offer products that are independent, local, organic, and sustainable while working to promote a stronger community. The co-op owners are committed to creating a work environment that fosters respect, equality and mutual support between workers, and are guided by principles of social and environmental responsibility.

Wedge Community Co-op

Founded in 1974 by a group of neighbors, Wedge Community Co-op became the first certified organic grocery store in Minnesota in 2002 and now has 16,000 members across the metro area.  In order to meet the demand for organic produce, the co-op created its own wholesale distribution department in 1999 that now serves as a major distributor, bringing perishable products to co-ops in six states, and working with local and regional producers to bring their products to market.  In January 2016, the co-op opened the Wedge Table, a cooperative market, community room and café, featuring organic, local, and homemade products.  Committed to the community and environment, the co-op makes grants to groups working to create a sustainable future and strives to operate as sustainably as possible.

Nexus Community Partners

Founded in 2004, Nexus Community Partners works across the Twin Cities region to build more engaged and powerful communities of color by supporting community-building initiatives that expand community assets and foster social and human capital.  The nonprofit’s work hinges on a three-pronged approach focused on “authorship,” building infrastructure for stronger community engagement learning and practice; “leadership,” investing in and cultivating leaders of color who are advancing an equity agenda; and “ownership,” adopting a community wealth building framework prioritizing local and equitable ownership and control of wealth, mutually reinforcing economic enterprises, and locally anchored assets.

Cross-Sectoral

Northland Institute

Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1996, Northland's mission is to develop innovative asset-building strategies for low-income individuals, entrepreneurial non-profits, and community economic development organizations. The Institute is an active participant in national Individual Development Account (IDA) coalitions, promotes social enterprise, and advocates ESOPs as a way to build wealth among asset-poor workers and root businesses more firmly in their communities.  One key initiative it developed and now manages is the Minnesota Community Capital Fund (MCCF), which aims to increase the availability of gap-financing capital for Minnesota businesses by pooling local economic development dollars and accessing national capital markets.  Since its inception in 2003, MCCF has made 91 loans totaling more than $36 million to businesses and nonprofits across the state.

Anchor Institutions

Office of Business & Community Economic Development, University of Minnesota

Established in 1999, the Office for Business & Community Economic Development seeks to leverage the assets and resources of the University of Minnesota to create programs and services that address real urban issues.  To do so, the office is charged with supporting the University’s goal to procure from businesses owned and operated by people of color, women, and people with disabilities—an effort that is credited with directing about $500 million to targeted businesses.  The office also provides small business development services and runs a Technology Empowerment Center focused on helping underserved populations access information technologies.

New State & Local Policies

Wireless Minnesota

Minneapolis’ “Wireless Minnesota” network covers 59 square miles of the city, making it one of the largest areas covered by wireless worldwide. To create the network, the city partnered with USI Wireless, which now offers free accounts to community sites that provide computer access to the public, technology literacy training, and/or technology support to underserved communities.  The network also includes 117 "Wireless Minneapolis" hotspots throughout the city from which anyone can access the Internet for free. Five percent of USI Wireless’ profits support a “digital inclusion fund” which since 2007 has granted a total of $400,000 to groups working to promote digital literacy and bridge the digital divide.