Minnesota officials push for targeted small business grants

Minnesota politicians at the state, local and federal level said the city has benefited from various economic grants, but emphasized that there’s still room to better target the aid.

Speaking at The Hill’s Small Business Recovery Tour, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) said that while the financial support has helped many businesses, others haven’t benefitted.

“We need to make sure that equity is a part of this and folks are getting access across these programs,” Craig told The Hill’s Steve Clemons. “The pandemic shined a light on disparities in America.”

Craig, a member of the House Small Business Committee, said that one reason minority-owned businesses have not gotten the money they need is because they have been in “a position of not being first in line for a lot of these loans” due to not having the necessary resources.

.@RepAngieCraig: “workers are coming back, but they’re reevaluating where in the workforce they want to come back in to” #TheHillSmallBiz https://t.co/jp867bAonq pic.twitter.com/eAkQWgkSG9

— The Hill Events (@TheHillEvents) July 13, 2021

Thousands of small businesses across the country have received loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), though much of the funds in the first round of disbursements were snatched up by companies with strong ties to big banks that were able to facilitate the loan application process. Subsequent bills providing PPP funds addressed the program’s initial shortcomings.

State Sen. Eric Pratt (R) said at Tuesday’s event sponsored by Wells Fargo that Minnesota has approved three rounds of grants since June 2020 to help businesses.

“In total, we will have put in in excess of $400 million into small business grants and support,” Pratt said, noting that the most recent round of grants range from $10,000 to $25,000.

Minnesota State Senator @EricPrattMN: “What the digital economy has done is truly created a global economy and our small Minnesota businesses need to be able to compete in that” #TheHillSmallBiz https://t.co/jp867bAonq pic.twitter.com/A3wbwWyJvy

— The Hill Events (@TheHillEvents) July 13, 2021

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) said that while such funding has helped, officials also want to be mindful about how the money is used.

“Minneapolis has been at the epicenter of a global reckoning around racial justice, and what we want to be working on is not just getting back to normal but blowing by it,” Frey said.

.@MayorFrey: “Workers need to be able to head into their business and feel safe. Customers and patrons need to be able to go and shop and have both the reality and the perception of safety – that’s a critical component” #TheHillSmallBiz https://t.co/jp867bAonq pic.twitter.com/hrF7Fta8BC

— The Hill Events (@TheHillEvents) July 13, 2021

He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic hit Black- and minority-owned businesses particularly hard, and that economic assistance should be directed with that in mind.

“One of the first steps was not just making decisions ourselves, but making sure we are listening to a series of Black and brown leaders,” Frey said.

A June survey of U.S. small businesses by Alignable found that an increasing number of minority-owned businesses say they are unable to pay their rent.