III.2. Elevate Hennepin Presentation; Needham
CITY OF HOPKINS
Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
Mike Mornson, City Manager
From: Revée Needham, Community Development Manager
Date: November 12, 2024
Subject: Elevate Hennepin Presentation
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PURPOSE
To provide an overview of the Elevate Hennepin program.
INFORMATION
The City of Hopkins is proud to partner with Hennepin County’s Elevate HennepinTM
initiative to bring expert advising and other business resources to businesses at no cost
to the business. Elevate Hennepin, an initiative from Hennepin County, is designed to
support businesses of all sizes in their efforts to grow, create jobs, and evolve. Through
this program, businesses located in or operating in Hennepin County can access no-
cost advising, find business events, and identify local, state, and federal business-
support resources. Businesses can get up to 25 hours of insight or consulting from
each advisor. There are 40+ business advisors who have expertise in all manner of
topics, including: access to capital, business certification, financial management,
marketing consulting, legal questions, human resources, strategic planning, business
technology, and starting a business. To learn more, visit Elevate Hennepin to connect
with a business navigator to help navigate this incredible resource:
https://www.elevatehennepin.org/. In quarters 1 and 2 of 2024, 16 Hopkins businesses
utilized Elevate Hennepin services.
Elevate Hennepin was designed to support Hennepin County businesses through the
COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest. Since then, it has evolved into an innovative
model to encourage growth and an integral part of the county’s economic development
engine. So far, more than 2,400 businesses in Hennepin County have utilized Elevate
Hennepin for no-cost consulting provided by Hennepin County and to identify other
business resources and events to enhance their business.
Brandon Bell, Principal Planning Analyst with Hennepin County, will share a brief
presentation about Elevate Hennepin.
FUTURE ACTION
There is no action associated with this item. The City of Hopkins funds Elevate
Hennepin through the economic development budget of $5,000 per year.
Planning & Economic
Development