3 Rochester organizations receive inclusive entrepreneurship grants

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – Three Rochester organizations were selected by the National League of Cities (NLC) to each receive a $15,000 grant to support inclusive entrepreneurship activities.

Mayor Kim Norton spearheaded local involvement and supported this work by supplementing $5,000 grants to each of the selected and awarded projects. This will infuse a total of $60,000 in local ventures to support diverse entrepreneurs.

Community partners include Rochester Area Economic Development, Inc. (RAEDI), Collider Foundation and Cradle 2 Career, a project of the Rochester Area Foundation.

The NLC’s grant program is a part of the City Inclusive Entrepreneurship Network (CIEN), which asks city leaders to commit to creating the right policies, programs and practices that drive inclusive, entrepreneurship-led economic growth in their community.

The three areas for funding included Ecosystem Accelerator, Informal Entrepreneurship and Early Childhood Workforce.

“Rochester was the only city to receive grant support in all three areas, which is a testament to the wonderful organizations that are effective partners with the City of Rochester. I am very proud to add the Mayor’s office and City support for the three initiatives that RAEDI, Collider and Cradle to Career will be leading.”
Mayor Kim Norton

As part of its “Ecosystem Accelerator” program, the RAEDI Foundation is mapping services provided by entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in the Rochester ecosystem.

According to the City of Rochester, this will aid in identifying gaps in services and be the first step to coordinating the creation of programs to fill those needs in the community.

The Collider Foundation will focus on the rise of informal businesses in Rochester, especially those based out of residential homes. As Collider Foundation has highlighted, women and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs lead a majority of these businesses. This grant will help make informal entrepreneurs more visible, create connections through cohort learning and help the entrepreneurs gain equitable access to resources to grow their businesses.

Cradle 2 Career is conducting a childcare capacity and utilization study, as part of the NLC’s Early Childhood Workforce track. With support from local, regional, and national partners, Cradle 2 Career will identify the barriers informal non-licensed and licensed in-home childcare providers face. Through a co-design process with these providers, the organization aims to generate community-wide solutions that will identify investment and re-allocation opportunities for informal and in-home childcare providers.