While the once-every-50-years reconstruction of Hennepin Avenue is necessary to keep the street and infrastructure under it working well into the future, there is no avoiding that this is and will continue to be an enormous strain on businesses through next year, many of which were already experiencing a challenging time.
While the approved street layout and key details of the construction were finalized long before I was sworn into office, the hard work of helping our community navigate through the strain and the changes ahead remains.
We already have far too many vacant storefronts along Hennepin, and more must be done at all levels of government to help our business district thrive once again. The city, and my office in particular, has a role to play in rallying folks to shop locally whenever possible.
Beyond encouraging Public Works staff to install the "Businesses Open'' signage across the construction zone, we are working in partnership with Council Vice President Chughtai and her team to shift the narrative of Uptown and Hennepin Avenue in a more positive direction through media opportunities and community partnerships, as well as to increase
accessibility to existing city resources.
The city has several business support programs, such as matching grants for facade improvements or free technical assistance available for things like strategic business planning or marketing and branding, which many don’t know about.
It’s our job to make these programs as accessible as possible for those who need them most. Please join me in visiting the city of Minneapolis’ “business services” web page or reach out to my office directly to find out what’s available: ward7@minneapolismn.gov.
I know that many businesses don’t need lip service; they need investments in areas like community safety and accessibility to support more customers to come in.
We are hopeful that additional business grants from the state are on their way through Senator Scott Dibble and Representative Frank Hornstein’s bill, which will expand the boundaries of the Promise Act to include all of Hennepin Avenue South on both sides of the corridor. We stand ready as partners to help deliver these resources and those currently offered by the city.
It is a fact that in our urban environment residents and small businesses will continue to contend with major infrastructure projects, but the city has an opportunity to create proactive, tangible plans for how to minimize negative impacts on small businesses long before there are any orange cones on the ground.
Our storefront businesses do so much for our community, so let’s do all we can to lift them up during this difficult period. If you have ideas for my office on elevating community initiatives through our communications channels or network, we’d love to hear them!
We will continue to share updates about construction and ways to support small businesses in our biweekly Ward 7 newsletter and social media.
