This month, MCCD is partnering with Elevate Hennepin to offer up to 30 minutes of business support per business at the Minnetonka Thriving Thursday.
This Thriving Thursday event is an in-person, office hours-style pop-up for Minnetonka-based businesses provided by Elevate Hennepin, where business owners and entrepreneurs can drop in to receive one-on-one support. Connect face-to-face with MCCD, Elevate Hennepin consultants, and city economic development staff for guidance on the next right step for your business.
Learn more and sign up at the link in our bio.
Across the state, small businesses employ 1.3 million Minnesotans, creating the heart of our economy and the soul of our communities. And the impacts of the federal immigration surge have done unprecedented harm to our local entrepreneurs.
According to the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, federal actions this year have resulted in at least $600 million in lost business revenue in Minneapolis-Saint Paul alone and an estimated $240 million in wages.
Right now, state legislators have the opportunity — and obligation — to pass $100 million in relief to help small businesses recover statewide. Take action today to tell your lawmakers to support our Main Street economies: bit.ly/sb-mn-2026
A Burnsville construction company on the brink of closing after 15 years. Mom-and-pop shops in Long Prairie have faced a sharp decline in sales. A restaurant in Wilmar closing for two months out of real fear of the owner being detained—despite being a U.S. citizen.
These are the devastating realities Main Street businesses are facing across Minnesota—and why state lawmakers need to pass small business relief before the legislative session ends on May 17!
Take action today! Contact YOUR lawmakers and tell them to pass $100 million in small business relief: bit.ly/sb-mn-2026
Help us pack the Minnesota State Capitol to support small businesses on Monday, May 11, from 1 to 4 pm! With only a week before the legislative session ends, we need *your voice* to advocate to lawmakers and ask them to help small businesses recover and rebuild by passing $100 million in small business assistance. RSVP here and spread the word through your networks: bit.ly/sb-mn-2026
Along with partners at the Greater Minnesota Partnership, Unidos MN, Women Venture and the Coalition of Asian American Leaders, MCCD co-authored a commentary in the Star Tribune today, urging the legislature to act and pass urgently needed small-business relief before the end of session. Read the full post at https://bit.ly/4tiKuQk
The 2026 ELCD program has officially begun!
Founded in 2011 by a group of community development professionals, MCCD’s Emerging Leaders in Community Development (ELCD) is a free, six-month program for early- and mid-career leaders in the community development field. The program offers mentorship, training, and networking opportunities to help participants build skills, expand their networks, and strengthen their leadership in the field.
To kick off the 2026 program, mentors and mentees gathered at Hope Community to meet one another, enjoy breakfast, and take headshots. Each mentee has connected with a designated mentor in the community development sector, and they will be convening throughout the next six months for networking events and industry-specific training opportunities.
Thank you to our mentees and mentors for joining the program! We can’t wait to work with you all.
This week, MCCD’s Senior Shared Ownership Advisor Darren Mozenter visited Baltimore to join the @cooperationworks Spring Meeting.
CooperationWorks is a nationwide network of cooperative developers. Members spent their spring meeting learning about the Baltimore cooperative ecosystem, touring local cooperatives, and networking with cooperative developers from across the country.
MCCD is thrilled to be a new member of CooperationWorks. We look forward to the opportunity to network, collaborate, and learn from other cooperators across the country. Together, we can elevate the impact of the cooperative movement and community organizers.
Join members of the Small Business Rapid Relief Initiative to advocate for small business relief this legislative session.
Next week, we are rallying at the Capitol and and asking our lawmakers for support relief for small businesses impacted by the increased federal presence in Minnesota. Small businesses across our state are still struggling with lost revenue and workforce shortages due to circumstances out of their control and we need the state to act now.
We will be rallying on two days: April 27th for Somali Day at the Capitol, and April 30th for Asian Minnesotan Day at the Capitol. Link in our bio to learn more and sign up for these events.
Halcyon House is a worker-owned cooperative and mind-body therapy studio based in downtown Duluth. Through a wide variety of services—including physical therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, and retail tea and wellness products—Halcyon aims to create a restorative and calm space for the community to recenter, reconnect, and drink amazing tea.
Driven by a commitment to shared prosperity and serving the community, every member of the Halcyon team is deeply invested in creating an atmosphere of warmth, hospitality, and genuine care for guests. For them, operating as a cooperative—in which the business is owned, governed, and managed by its workers—is the only way that they can live up to these goals.
MCCD was thrilled to support the Halcyon team as they developed their business plan, registered with the IRS, and wrote their cooperative’s bylaws. Click the link in our bio to learn more about Halcyon House and the work MCCD does with cooperative businesses.
MCCD is thrilled to announce that Kit Fordham has been appointed as our Interim Chief Executive Officer!
Kit brings over a decade of community development to this role, including eight years as Executive Director of Mni Sota Fund, an MCCD member organization. Under Kit’s leadership, Mni Sota Fund grew from a small startup CDFI into a $17 million institution that earned the Bush Prize in 2024. He has served on the MCCD Board of Directors, and comes to this role with a deep commitment to our members, our mission, and the community development ecosystem as a whole.
Click the link in our bio to learn more about Kit and his new role from MCCD's Board Chair.
Earlier this week, MCCD joined cooperators from across Minnesota at the Capitol in St. Paul to speak to lawmakers on the power and potential of worker-owned cooperatives.
MCCD's Senior Shared Ownership Advisor, Darren Mozenter, had boots on the ground throughout the day. Working with several MCCD community partners, he spoke at an informational hearing on the powerful ways in which worker-owned cooperatives build and circulate money throughout their local communities. Positively 3rd Street Bakery, an MCCD client and worker-owned cooperative based in Duluth, also testified to share the business's experiences building community and worker wealth over their 43 years of business on the North Shore.
Thank you to everybody who showed up at the Capitol this week! Together, we can showcase worker-owned cooperatives as a tangible solution to the business succession crisis while demonstrating their wealth-building power.
MCCD is thrilled to be participating in next week's Co-op Day at the Minnesota Capitol!
Our team will be joining the Cooperative Network and MCCD client Positively 3rd Street in St. Paul. Together, we will show lawmakers the power of the cooperative model to address community challenges - such as the business succession crisis - while demonstrating the economic and social benefits they bring to Minnesota.
Click the link in our bio to learn more about this event.
