Minnesota Commercial Railway has completed urgently needed repairs on the troubled South 31st Avenue freight railroad bridge in Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighborhood, a key link in the freight rail network serving Twin cities businesses and industries.  

Repairs extended the life of the bridge by 30 years by addressing the damage done by corrosion that has eaten away at its steel underpinnings for many years. Completed and put into service in 1913, the bridge in 2021 carried more than 5,000 rail cars, each with a 125 ton load, or more than half a million tons of incoming or outgoing freight - the equivalent of more than 16,000 semi-truck loads that would otherwise be traveling on city streets and through local neighborhoods. 

The bridge, which is not owned by Minnesota Commercial but which it is obligated to repair under the terms of the firm’s lease with Canadian Pacific Railway, serves the historic Hiawatha Avenue Mill & Industrial District, a major employment center that includes manufacturing facilities for General Mills, ADM, Leder Brothers and other firms. The right of way over the bridge is shared with the Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority as well as daily pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the Midtown Greenway, which crosses over it. The bridge is also a vital connection in delivering oversized passenger rail cars to Metro Transit’s Hiawatha Avenue maintenance facility, many of them destined for the Southwest Corridor line, currently under construction.

Wayne Hall, Co-President of Minnesota Commercial, said the repairs were partially funded by a financial grant of $210,000 won by his firm in a competitive process conducted by MNDoT’s  Minnesota Rail Services Improvement (MRSI) program, augmented by the company’s own funds.  “Our repairs extended the life of the bridge by 30 years by addressing the damage done by corrosion that has eaten away at its steel underpinnings for many years,“ he said. 

“An analysis of the bridge’s condition conducted by Southwest Bridge Engineers in 2019 found that its continued safe operations and reliability were seriously threatened,” Hall said, and concluded that its useful life had been dramatically shortened by the damage. It also found that if not addressed on an urgent basis, it could potentially require a total replacement at an estimated cost in the millions.  The newly completed repairs include replacement of bearings, columns, column bases and related anchor bolts, all of which are key to the bridge’s continued capability to carry the heavy weights of daily freight deliveries to Minnesota Commercial’s customers and shipments of finished products to markets.

Our community of local artists through LoLa are exploring the possibility of artists doing residencies in local businesses to generate interest in both the business and the artist's work. If your business is interested in hosting or partnering with a local artists for a 1-3 month project, you can get in touch and learn more here. 

Our partners at Lake Street Council and Redesign both administer a variety of grant and assistance programs for businesses to make improvements to the exterior and interior of their buildings. Learn more about the different Lake Street Council grants. To learn more about the storefront grants through Redesign, click here or contact Hibo. 

In August of 2021, The City of Minneapolis updated parking restrictions to prohibit trucks over 26,000lbs from parking on city streets unless they are engaged in loading, unloading, or providing a service. The new restriction was in response to extensive community feedback about issues associated with large commercial trucks parking for extended periods of time on city streets when they’re not in service. Enforcement of new truck parking restrictions began on January 1, 2022. Read more
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Hennepin County grants for projects that prevent waste 
Areas of focus include replacing disposables with reusables, food waste prevention and innovative projects around research and development (to prevent waste). This year $300,000 is available for business waste prevention grants.
Applicants may apply for up to $50,000 toward a project, with a minimum of $5,000. Grants over $10,000 require a 25% match. Review the 2022 waste prevention grant guidelines (PDF) and the grant flyer (PDF) for details on this grant program.

Application timeline: Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until Monday, November 14, 2022, or until the annual program budget is exhausted, whichever occurs first. Learn moreVisit the business recycling page to learn more and apply.

Bin and compostable bag grants for small businesses and nonprofit organizations
The county is providing free resources and assistance for small businesses and nonprofit organizations to start or improve recycling and organics recycling. Applicants may select up to $3,000 worth of containers and compostable bags from the county's product list. Review the 2022 Business recycling bin and compostable bag grant guidelines (PDF) and grant flyer (PDF) for details on container and bag options.

Join Hennepin County’s Plastic-Free Challenge and take action to help create a plastic-free world
Plastics are problematic for many reasons. Using less plastic helps to reduce waste, protect water and wildlife, address climate change, and look after the health of ourselves and future generations. Hennepin County is encouraging residents and partners to be part of the solution by joining the Plastic-Free Challenge this February and committing to actions that help create a plastic-free world.

Spread the word and encourage others to joinHelp spread the word by:

• Using the media kit and graphics posted on the resources page to promote the challenge through your communication channels.
• Creating a team to take the challenge along with your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
• Becoming a Plastic-Free Challenge Partner.

Assistance and resources
Get started with a site visit. Request a virtual or in-person site visit to learn what else your business could be doing to reduce waste and recycle more. Site visits take 30 to 60 minutes. A Hennepin County staff person will point out quick fixes, make recommendations for more long-term changes, and discuss potential funding available through the county’s business recycling grant programs.

Label your recycling, trash, and organics bins!
A variety of signs are available for spaces such as offices, cafeterias, commercial kitchens, public spaces and more. Order free recycling, organics recycling and trash signs.

The employee retention credit refunds employee wages not covered by PPP loans for eligible businesses for up to 70% of wages in 2021 and 50% of wages in 2020. The credit can be applied to up to $10,000 in earnings for each employee annually in 2020 and per quarter in 2021. As a self-employed person your wages are eligible if you are paid wages (for example, if you are an S-Corp and receive a paycheck).You can amend your quarterly employer's tax return (form 941) for past quarters to claim these credits.

Your business must be eligible meaning it was affected by a governmental order restricting business or suffered income losses meeting certain guidelines. Talk to your payroll processor, or contact your accountant to find out if you are eligible for these very valuable credits. You can literally receive thousands of dollars back from the IRS for these credits.

For example, in 2021 if you paid an employee $10,000 in a quarter and your business is eligible, you could receive $7,000 back from the IRS (minus taxes due) just for that one employee.

The credit is not available for 2021 fourth quarter 941s, but you can amend your previous quarters to claim the credit. Small businesses were shocked to see a suspension of the last quarter of the Employee Retention Credit program tucked into the recently passed Infrastructure and Jobs Act. The law retroactively repeals an employer's ability to claim employee retention credits for eligible wages paid after Sept. 30, 2021 -- effectively eliminating the fourth quarter of 2021. 

Thankfully, U.S. Representatives Terri Sewell, Carol Miller, Stephanie Murphy, and Kevin Hern recently introduced bipartisan legislation, the Employee Retention Tax Credit Reinstatement Act (H.R. 6161), to restore the ERC for the full 2021 calendar year as intended. Add your voice in support of this needed remedy. Take Action Today

On December 10, 2021 the Minneapolis City Council adopted a fee schedule for business licenses in 2022. Most businesses will see no increase in fees. 
Changes included:   

· Short Term Rental Platform fees increased, with an additional fee tier added based on the number of units
· Tow truck maximum service fee caps decreased
· Additional “new manager” application for alcohol licenses at no charge

​Read the adopted fee schedule

The City of Minneapolis is partnering on a community air monitoring project with the MN Pollution Control Agency and MN State University to collect data used to identify air quality concerns and take action to reduce human exposure to air pollution.
The City is taking requests for locations to place air sensors in Minneapolis. If you are interested in hosting one or more AQMesh air sensors, please complete the request form. You may request up to five locations. All locations must be in Minneapolis.
Respond by Dec. 20 if you are interested in hosting a sensor.

Community air monitoring sensor request form

​For questions, please contact Jenni Lansing at jenni.lansing@minneapolismn.gov or 612-673-2301.