Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium leaders and St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman at broadcast from Centennial Showboat.

L-R: Tom
Gitta, publisher, Mshale Newspaper; David Glass, president, American Indian Economic Development Fund; St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman;
Nghi Huynh, publisher, Asian American Press and president of MN Multicultural Media Consortium; Al McFarlane, editor–in–chief, Insight
News and host of Conversations with Al McFarlane; Aldolpho Cardona, publisher, Latino Midwest.

Story by Al McFarlane • Photos by Suluki Fardan

Partnerships create resiliency, growth

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman last week affirmed the city’s commitment to do right by
communities of color, small businesses, women-owned businesses and other disadvan-
taged businesses through restructuring city government to create new ways to do busi-
ness with the City of St. Paul.

he special broadcast originated at the Centennial The first of its kind broadcast program also reflected the emer-

T Showboat at Harriet Island and featured live music by

Wain McFarlane & Jahz, and networking before the
show. Riverfront Economic Development Association
gence of a unique multi ethnic and multi-media platform for
examining and promoting business and economic development
in communities of color. Minnesota Multicultural Media
(REDA), the powerful business support and promotion organi- Consortium (MMMC) editors and American Indian business
zation that serves St. Paul’s West Side community, and the development executives joined broadcast host Al McFarlane in
Minority Business Development and Retention division of St. meet-the-press style interviews of city department heads, com-
Paul’s new Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity munity development strategists and banking industry leaders.
(HREEO) Department, and Twin Cities Local Initiative
Support Corporation (LISC) co-sponsored the forum broad-
cast.

McFarlane• Ford Reader October 26, 2009

L-R David Glass, president, American Indian Economic Development Fund; Nghi Huynh, publisher, Asian American Press and president of MN
Multicultural Media Consortium; Aldolpho Cardona, publisher, Latino Midwest; and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.
Coleman welcomed the nearly 100-
member audience and gave particular
thanks to Christopher Romano, execu-
tive director of REDA. “It’s always
good to have neighborhood economic
development partners at the table
because they really know what is going
on in the community,” he said.
While it is appropriate to discuss how
businesses navigate challenging eco-
nomic times, Coleman said the empha-
sis should be on the “season of oppor-
tunity” now at hand in St. Paul.
“Everyone knows about the $1 billion
of investment that will occur along the
University transit corridor. But there
are other opportunities occurring across
the city on the West side, on the
Eastside, on the North End and on
Payne Avenue and Arcade Street,” he
said.
Coleman said the City of St. Paul must
ensure that minority- and women-
owned and disadvantaged business are
part of the opportunity.
“I think we’re doing our part,” he said.
“Four years ago when I took office we
Page 2
realized we were not properly organ-
ized or focused to make sure that we
were providing opportunities for all of
our citizens and business owners. City
Attorney John Choi, acting on recom-
mendations of a formal audit of St. Paul
efforts to ensure inclusiveness, asked
people what they needed. He made rec-
ommendations for changes we needed
to go forward. We made a very dramat-
ic change in opening up the Department
of Human Rights and Equal Economic
Opportunity. We created a new way of
doing business. We are making sure
that people can succeed and that as
minority-owned businesses and
women-owned and disadvantaged
firms, you have the resources you need
to be successful.
“We’re figuring out where we can part-
ner with people. We have new loan pro-
grams. A lot of people are traveling
light right now. They’re fearful about
the recession,” Coleman said. “We are
asking what we need to do to assure
those businesses that are struggling. So
we can drive business in that direction.
These are things we can do and will
continue to do. We need to hear from
all of you. What are the things that you
want us to do that were not doing. How
can we continue to restructure and
organize to create opportunity?
“This is not just a morally right thing to
do, but it’s economically the right thing
to do as well. When we invest in busi-
nesses, those dollars turn over again
and again and again in our own com-
munity. When we support our small
businesses, we stabilize our neighbor-
hoods,” Mayor Coleman said.
Chris Romano is executive director of
Riverview Economic Development
Association (REDA) the only commu-
nity development corporation (CDC)
doing development work on Saint
Paul’s Westside.
Romano hosted business and civic
leaders at the October 13th taping of
the Conversations with Al McFarlane
public policy broadcast. The broadcast
airs 11am Tuesday, October 27, on
KFAI FM 90.2 in Minneapolis and
106.3 in St. Paul. The program originat-
ed at the historic Centennial Showboat
at Harriet Island and featured network-
 “This is a difficult time, but also the time
of great opportunity. District Del Sol has
more vacancies than ever before, more
than at any time in the last eight years
that I’ve been here.” Chris Romano

ing and live music by Wain McFarlane

& Jahz. The program promoted
engagement, opportunity, awareness
and support for minority, women and
small business development.

Romano said REDA serves two func-

tions for the Westside community.
REDA is a business association, a mini
chamber of commerce with over 100
members. “We hold training and net-
working sessions. We provide loans.
Secondly we have a community devel-
opment corporation function. Our
responsibility is to ensure Westside
revitalizes in the best way possible,
from a business and community per-
spective, he said.
“This is a difficult time, but also the
time of great opportunity. District Del
Sol has more vacancies than ever
before, more than at any time in the last
eight years that I’ve been here,” he
said. “But on the other hand, it is a
time of opportunity. For small business
owners that want to expand or get into
business, today is a very good time to
do that.”
“REDA and the City of St. Paul are
bringing many tools to those business-
es to help them succeed. Our tools
included loan and grant programs. You
typically hear in the media that there
are no loans available right now. You
hear that businesses are suffering
because they don’t have the capital to
expand or to cover their cash flow
needs. But that couldn’t be further
from the truth in our community.”
Tom Gitaa, publisher, Mshale Newspaper
Romano said, “One of my goals is to
make sure that that message gets
across. There are community bankers
here today and there are folks at City
Hall here. And we have resources.”
“If you own a small business on the
Westside and if you need money to
expand your business to buy additional
machinery and to be successful we can
provide those funds. We do that In con-
nection with community banks and the
city of St. Paul,” he said.
Romano said REDA also provides
small business grants. “One of the nice
things about a grant is that you don’t
have to pay it back.” He said the grants
are for façade improvements, like sig-
nage, windows, and entryways, things
that improve the look of the business.
The grants require a 1 to 1 match with
a limit of $5,000 from the grant. So a
project could cost up to $10,000 with
the business providing half of the proj-
ect cost.
Romano said this is a particularly excit-
ing time because of the federal stimulus
programs. “We are still trying to figure
out how old gold funds work together
and how we can get the money down to
our neighborhood businesses. But I
think we will be able to figure out how
to do that in conjunction with city and
state government.”
Romano praised St. Paul Mayor Chris
Coleman’s leadership in support of the
neighborhood business associations.
“To have the mayor of our city come
here and spend time with us shows the

Page 3

commitment he has to our community
and to ensuring that continued success
of Westside businesses,” Romano said.
Tomas Sanchez, executive director of
Invest St. Paul, said he has worked in
Saint Paul’s Planning and Economic
Development (PED) for over 35 years.
He said invest St. Paul coordinates
planning, zoning, and traffic transit
environments to support small business
development.
“We look at what regulatory things we
need to create an environment for eco-
nomic development that will attract
large businesses and small businesses
to St. Paul. We encourage the develop-
ment of business corridors. We also
encourage employment. We used to do
a lot in that area but not as much today.
But we do provide financing that cre-
ates jobs,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez said his department is respon-
sible for historic preservation, and
leverages city resources to support
housing development.
Adolfo Cardona, publisher of Latino
Midwest, joined fellow publishers,
Nghi Huynh, of Asian American Press,
and Tom Gitaa, of Mshale, and David
Glass, executive director of the
American Indian Economic
Development Fund, in raising Meet-
the-Press style questions of forum pre-
senters.
Cardona, whose newspaper is a mem-
ber of REDA, asked, “How do REDA
and the City help entrepreneurs not
only ‘seize if the opportunity at hand’
but also help in finding, identifying the
right opportunity?”
Page 4
“If it’s money they needed, we
can try to provide funds so loan
amounts needed are smaller and
involve less risk”
Romano said sometimes the best advice
business counselors can give to the
micro entrepreneur who says he wants
to start a business is “Don’t do it!”
He said, “We joke about that from time
to time, but in truth, it is better to con-
vince someone that their idea is not a
good investment in today’s economy.
So we may advise them against sinking
the $20,000 that they have scrimped
and saved over the past 10 years into a
business that won’t work.”
On the other hand he said, “We have a
support division that helps folks put
together cash flow analyses. We help
folks look at financial statements and
create business plans. That is an impor-
tant part of our work. It is the reason
we have such strong relationships with
the local banks. They know if REDA is
involved, there is somebody on the
ground floor doing a lot of outreach and
connecting with the business.”
Romano said there are a number of
organizations and agencies across the
city that provide counseling and train-
ing services to small businesses. “You
participate in the training programs you
are often eligible for reduced rates on
other business services including
accounting legal and marketing servic-
es,” he said.
David Glass said typically minority and
American Indian communities are
“communities of poverty.”
“We come forward and try to obtain
business loans, but we’re already sad-
dled with bad credit. People from com-
munities of poverty come to the table
with bad credit. We find it somewhat
Tom Sanchez
challenging to work with lenders, even
community lenders and banks, in
obtaining loans. It is even difficult
working with the SBA (Small Business
Administration).” Glass asked, “How
does your organization help us if that
navigate through these problems?”
“In the Latino community we have the
same issues. We struggle with that all
that time,” Romano said. “We can’t sit
here and say we have the answer to the
folks in our community to get them the
credit we would like to see them get.”
“We also deal with immigration issues.
That ends up being a huge roadblock
for many of our financial partners. I
have nothing against the large banks
that we work with, but I have found that
some of the community banks are
going more willing to look outside the
box when it comes to some of these
issues whether its credit score or busi-
ness financials or what have you,”
Romano said.
“Often times we say we will help with
the loan servicing, the training, and
with one and one meetings with the
entrepreneur every month. That takes a
huge burden off the lender. But it helps
ensure that their loans are going to get
paid back.”
Romano said the grants available, from
the STAR (Sales Tax Area
Revitalization) Program. St. Paul takes
an extra ½% sales tax to fund and the
STAR Program. “It allows us to make
grants of up to us $5,000 specifically
for business facade projects,” he said.
Asked how the city CDC’s work
together, Sanchez said, “We recognize
 “We provide working capital, loans, and
grants. A primary function is to get
funds to the community,”
that we don’t always have to lead. So
we look two the community develop-
ment corporations to provide input and
to tell us what is they need. What are
the things we can do to support their
mission? Sometimes it is a matter of
getting the city of the way and letting
them do what they do.”
“If it’s money they needed, we can try
to provide funds so loan amounts need-
ed are smaller and involve less risk,”
Sanchez said.
In a second panel, Readus Fletcher,
deputy director, Human Rights and
Equal Economic Opportunity
(HREEO,) who heads St. Paul’s
Minority Business Development and
Retention initiative, said “the city of St.
Paul generates business opportunities
to the tune of several hundred million
dollars a year. The department seeks to
ensure business and employment
opportunities are equally available to
all communities.”
“We do human rights complaint inves-
tigations. That’s important because
most investigations are employment-
related and that means the individual’s
economic opportunity. But the bigger
initiative is procurement. We do all the
contract bidding and contract compli-
ance. We manage contracts that go out
for purchasing for housing and other
business services purchased by the City
of St. Paul. We set expectations for
minority and women employment and
for business participation. We do
capacity building to enable small and
minority businesses to participate. We
work with community development
corporations like REDA and Selby
CDC. We provide working capital,
loans, and grants. A primary function is
to get funds to the community,”
Fletcher said.
Larry Zang, project facilitator, Department
of Safety and Inspection (DSI)
Bob Kessler is director, department of
safety inspections (DSI). He said his
department and the newly created
HREEO each represent the biggest
reorganization of city government since
the seventies. “We believe we can pro-
vide good information and efficient
services. That is what we want to do.”
Larry Zang, the DSI project facilitator,
said the Department of Safety and
Inspections is a regulatory department
“but that is not the whole story or the
biggest part.”
“We are proactive in supporting busi-
ness. We outline for owners what
requirements they must meet and how
they can shape their business plan to
help them succeed. We tried to work
with businesses to make them more
successful and guide them through
business processes,” he said.
Nghi Huynh, president of Minnesota
Multicultural Media Consortium and
publisher of Asian American Press
asked about strategies ensure economic
and business participation equity for
communities of color. He asked for
assurances for minority participation in
light rail business opportunity and
Readus Fletcher
Susan Feuerherm, acting purchasing man-
ager, Human Rights and Equal Economic
Opportunity (HREEO)
asked why the city was not more
aggressive in seeking stimulus funding.
“The city of St. Paul did not respond to
Minnesota Multicultural Media
Consortium efforts to respond to the
federal broadband stimulus spending
proposal requests,” he said.
Consequently, he said, the Consortium
partnered with the University of
Minnesota and Minneapolis city agen-
cies.
Susan Feuerherm, acting purchasing
manager, (HREEO), said St. Paul is to
looking to be involved in broadband
stimulus spending initiatives. “And we
have received and others stimulus
funds this week,” she said.
“In addition we put out a request for
proposals for a $146 million project
with 15% goals for women, minority
and disadvantaged businesses partici-
pation and employment. The project is
being run by the Regional Rail
Authority, but being put out to bid by
our office,” she said.
Fletcher said the $1 billion light rail
project is actually being built by the
Metropolitan Council and the Federal
Transit Authority. “They let the con-
Page 5
 “People from communities of poverty
come to the table with bad credit. We
find it somewhat challenging to work
with lenders, even community lenders
and banks, in obtaining loans.” David Glass

tracts and they set their goals. We work

with them to set high goals for employ-
ment, apprenticeships, and training,” he
said.

“However, the city has put up money

for a specific station and does control
that project. The $12,000,000 of city
money behind that station shows our
belief that this is a huge benefit to the
community,” Fletcher said.

Angela Burkhalter, Public Information

Officer - project manager, Minority
Business Development and Retention
(MBDR) - (HREEO), introduced the
final panel that included second ward
city Councilman Dave Thune and bank
executive John Kimball.
She said “Thune has a vision for small
businesses and for neighborhoods. It
not top down, but is about CDC’s and
associations letting the city know how
we can be better partners as we go for-
ward.”
“My solution is to leave everything up
to the neighborhoods,” Thune said.
“That is where the opportunity is. That
is where the jobs are. Neighborhoods
are local. Small banks and branch
banks are local. CDC’s and neighbor-
hood associations are local.”
That notwithstanding, he said, “This is
a bad time to start a new business. It is
extremely risky. But that is why part-
ners like REDA and the CDC’s are so
important. But this is also a region
where entrepreneurism is strong.”
Angela Burkhalter, Public Information
Officer (PIO) and Minority Business
Development and Retention (MBDR)
project manager
Thune said St. Paul has the largest
health care market in the upper
Midwest and he said environment ori-
ented business markets are growing. He
said education represents a growth mar-
ket for new businesses. St. Paul is sec-
ond only to Boston in the number of
schools per capita, he said.
While government cannot be the “be all
and end all” for small business, he said,
“we need to demand responsible part-
nerships. And when partnerships and
projects that we set up don’t go exactly
the way we want, we shouldn’t throw
everything out and just walk away,
despite the good work that has been
done.”
Thune even faulted his own DFL col-
leagues for throwing ACORN “under
the bus” when scamming problems sur-
faced in one of ACORN’s operations.
City Council member Dave Thune, Ward 2
“Don’t let politicians get away with
that,” he said.
Thune said St. Paul is right to be wel-
coming and non punitive to immigrant
populations. He said the city doesn’t
require proof of citizenship when pro-
viding services or employment. He said
immigrant workers add to the vitality of
the city and mean growth for business-
es.
Thune encouraged small businesses to
embrace and partner with the union
movement. “Unions are partners.
Unions are not scary,” he said.
John Kimball, senior vice president and
manager, SBA Lending at Park
Midway Bank said his bank’s mission
is to be a leader in improving the com-
munity, particularly, low and moderate
income communities.” Part of the
Sunrise Financial Services System, the
bank specializes in socially responsible

Page 6
deposits and lending. Customers can
specify that they want all their deposits
to be used exclusively for lending in
their own community, he said.

“Your money has the double bottom

line of aiding the community,” Kimball
said.

Park Midway Bank was one of leading

SBA lenders in the state, Kimball said.
“We used the New Market Tax Credit
Program and we have used federal
stimulus funds to increase the amount
of guarantee assistance for loans with-
out increasing fees to the user. Our
lending has increased over the past
year, which is significant considering
the difficult environment where banks
have become more restrictive in their
lending. Partnerships do work and will
continue to be important in the future,”
he said.
Tom Gitaa, publisher of Mshale, asked
Thune and Kimball what the city and
industry could do to make sure more
residents of immigrant and communi-
ties of color were aware of the
resources and opportunities that exist in
the community and in doing business
with the city.
Robert Kessler, director, Department of
Safety and Inspection (DSI)
“A lot of people look to the government
as a regulator. But we are learning
tonight that government also represents
a great business opportunity. Many of
us are not aware of that. How can we
create more awareness and get better at
getting this information out so people
can engage? “Gitaa asked, “How can
we build and increase the public-pri-
vate partnerships?”
Kimball said the banks can help cus-
tomers connect with information
because “information is absolutely crit-
ical element of success. But we are a
bank for profit. Our mission is banking,
not information.”
John Kimball, sr. vice president/manager
SBA Lending, Park Midway Bank
Thune credited Mayor Chris Coleman
with turning the corner for St. Paul
neighborhoods and small businesses.
“The city had failed to communicate in
the past, but Chris is changing that and
working harder and harder to connect
with the least amount of bureaucracy.
Yes, there are fewer dollars. But we can
be good matchmakers connecting busi-
nesses to opportunity.

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