community
MAIN STREET LONG PRAIRIE: Providing pathways for entrepreneurs and knocking down barriers is crucial to supporting the local economy.
Reinvent & Renew Central Minnesota team partners with Federal Reserve to explore strategies to expand support, services for historically underserved entrepreneurs By Andy Steiner | Photography by John Linn and Paul Middlestaedt
When COVID-19 hit Central Minnesota, it shook everyone in the region and exposed some raw truths: Low-income people and communities of color were particularly vulnerable, experiencing higher rates of infection and death, children who struggled to thrive in online school, significant job loss and small business setbacks and closures. With a focus on shoring up and supporting community members—during these unprecedented times and beyond—staff at the St. Cloud-based nonprofit Central Minnesota Community Empowerment Organization (CMCEO) shifted into high gear, developing programs to support immigrants and refugees in a range of areas: applying for rental assistance, running summer programs to help children catch up on schoolwork, and showing local business owners how to apply for COVID-19 grant and loan programs. “We have become a full-fledged resource for the community,” said Shirwa Adan, executive director for CMCEO, “so when COVID hit, we knew we had to be involved because we didn’t want to lose all the progress we’d made.”
CMCEO is a founding partner in the Initiative Foundation’s Enterprise Academy, an entrepreneurial bridge-building program that provides 12 weeks of small business training, technical assistance and potential access to financing for underserved entrepreneurs, including people of color and lower-income individuals. This summer, Adan was excited to learn of ways his organization could build even more community bridges. Along with representatives from a range of local nonprofits, higher education, businesses and economic development experts, Adan was invited by the Initiative Foundation to participate in Reinventing Our Communities, a 10-month program created and administered by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The Central Minnesota cohort, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, is exploring strategies to sustain and grow the Enterprise Academy and the businesses it serves. “The Initiative Foundation was really excited by this partnership, so we were, too,” Adan said. “We knew we wanted to be involved in this effort to explore how we can reinvent our communities in a culturally sensitive and equitable way.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
12 Initiative Foundation ifound.org
