DEED on the Road:
Summer Tour 2009

June 29, 2009

Greetings,

The Department of Employment and Economic Development is going on the road again this summer and we’re hoping to see you – our partners in prosperity for Minnesota!

DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy and other agency leaders are planning to visit 10 cities over a five-week span. We are reaching out to our core audience: economic developers, workforce development professionals, educators, local governments, business leaders and legislators.

Our theme is “Advancing Economic Prosperity: Partnering to Shape our Future.” We will be discussing the economy, how the recent legislative session affects workforce and economic development, and how federal stimulus dollars will be spent in Minnesota.

We are also planning breakout sessions and a resource fair so you can talk to other state and federal partners about what matters to you.

Our schedule is below. We will be sending you more information in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I hope you will put this important half-day session on your calendar.

Please RSVP to Mary Schneider

Granite Falls
Thursday, July 23
Minnesota West Community and Technical College
1593 11th Avenue
9 a.m. - 12 noon

North Mankato
Tuesday, July 28
South Central College
1920 Lee Blvd
9 a.m. - 12 noon

Winona
Wednesday, July 29
Southeast Technical College
1250 Homer Road
1p.m. - 4 p.m.

Twin Cities Metro Area
Monday, August 3
Unisys
2470 Highcrest Road
Roseville
1p.m. - 4 p.m.

Grand Rapids
Tuesday, August 4
Itasca Community College
1851 East Highway 169
1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Bemidji
Wednesday, August 5
Bemidji State University
American Indian Resourcr Center
1500 Birchmont Drive NE
9 a.m. - 12 noon

Duluth
Thursday, August 13
University of Minnesota-Duluth, Griggs Center
1049 University Drive
1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

St. Cloud
Monday, August 17
St. Cloud Public Library
1300 W St. Germain St
1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Fergus Falls
Thursday, August 20
Minnesota State Community and Technical College
Legacy Hall
1414 College Way
1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Brainerd
Thursday, August 27
Central Lakes College
501 W College Drive
1p.m.- 4 p.m.

The Forum on Small Towns hosted by Jeff Horowitz of Minnesota Public Radio will be on MPR on Friday, June 19 at 12:00 PM.  Ben Winchester from the Center for Small Towns at University of Minnesota – Morris and Jody Horntvedt, Leadership and Civic Engagement Educator were part of the panel and numerous Horizons community members were in the audience.

A Forum About Small Towns That Work     

The Minnesota State Fair, MinnPost.com, and Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. invite you to

Take the Challenge & Enter the

25th Anniversary
Minnesota Community Pride Competition this summer!

All communities recognized and
winners to be announced at the 2009 Minnesota State Fair!
Enter your community and/or project here.
Contest Begins: June 2, 2009
Entry Deadline: July 17, 2009
Enter at: http://www.ReinventingMinnesota.org
All communities recognized & winners announced
at the 2009 Minnesota State Fair

Why enter the Minnesota Community Pride contest?1. To spotlight the good things happening in your community. (Hey ya get to be recognized at the State Fair, for gosh sakes!)
2. Because you can inspire others.
3. Connecting people and ingenuity helps us all thrive.

Minnesota Community Pride is part of the Reinventing Minnesota initiative, to identify communities statewide for their efforts to move beyond the current economic crisis with creative and proactive community and economic development initiatives, and to share those best practices with their neighbors across the state.

In 1984, during a similar economic crisis, the State of Minnesota with public and private partners began the Minnesota Community Pride program. This year’s 25th anniversary contest is co-sponsored by the Minnesota State Fair, MinnPost.com, and Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc.

The competition, which begins June 2, will lift up and publicly recognize the energy and ingenuity of Minnesota’s communities in both overall community and economic development achievement, and innovations in specific disciplines, such as education, broadband deployment and application, health care, entrepreneurship support, arts & culture, and public finance and more.

Click here to enter your community and/or project today!

This new government website, Making Home Affordable, has been created to assist homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments.

 In case the link connection doesn’t work, the website address is http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/ 

 This was sent to us from our colleagues in Red Lake.

Quaker Go Grants are offered to any community member with an idea to combat hunger in their community.  Simply submit the online application form with a statement of 150 words or less about how your project will work, and you can be eligible for a grant of $500!  Here’s the nitty gritty from the folks at Quaker Oats:

• - Submit online application form with a 150 word or less description of your project that will help combat hunger in your community.
• - A selection committee will review the applications submitted each month and award Quaker Go Grants based on originality/uniqueness (50%); relevance to fighting hunger (30%); and potential impact on community/individuals involved (20%).
• - Winners will receive a $500 grant to make your project a reality. Winners must agree to show us what you did with the grant. You can submit a description, photo and/or video letting us know how you put the money to good use.

This was put together by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

 Minnesota Grants Alert:A members-only benefit of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

March 19, 2009, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

Making sense of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for Minnesota’s nonprofits
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law on February 13 and we are now beginning to understand how some of this $11.4 billion is going to flow into Minnesota. The State of Minnesota has set up an official Web site to coordinate efforts related to the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. At this Web site you can find a very detailed description of each of the funding streams, anticipated amounts, the state agency responsible for administering the funds and contact people at each of the state agencies. The summary table “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Estimated Allocation for Minnesota” does not include the details of how the funds will be distributed at the state agency level, so we have provided what we know as of this date here.Be aware that not all of the funding programs are in place at this time and for many of the categories the amounts listed are anticipated amounts. The vast majority of resources flowing to Minnesota will be disbursed through a formula process, but there will be some competitive grant programs. When you click on the links below to particular competitive grant opportunities, it will take you to the beginning of the summary document. You will need to scroll through the bookmarks on the left hand side of the document to find the detailed explanation of the opportunity. As the process for distributing these funds continues to evolve, MCN will keep you updated by providing information in this e-mail newsletter and is also planning to hold a public briefing for nonprofits in mid-April on the Recovery and Reinvestment Act and what it means for Minnesota’s nonprofits.We are also interested in hearing your experiences about accessing these resources. Please let me know if there are particular information sources that you have found helpful, state agency heads or staff that have provided you with useful guidance as well as any frustrating experiences that would be instructive to others. You can email me your stories at: leslie@mncn.org.

Education - Total funding in this area as of today with more anticipated $1,222,139,000
Competitive grants in education include:
School Improvement Funds ($27 million)
Educational Technology State grants ($6.1 million estimated with 50% being awarded through a competitive process)
 McKinney-Vento ($612,000 estimated to be distributed to local districts on a competitive basis)
 National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance ($1.7 million estimated to be distributed on a competitive basis to districts)
State Incentive grants (50% of a currently unknown amount will be distributed through a competitive sub-granting process)

Health, Human Services and Other Support - Total funding in this area as of today with more anticipated $1,948,226,800
  Immunization (the total amount is unknown but there will be a small portion of funds that will likely be competitive to be used for demonstration projects in two areas: school-based vaccinations and adult vaccination)
 Emergency Shelter grant Program ($11 million)Energy and Environment - Total funding in this area as of today with more anticipated  $382,031,000
 EPA Brownfields ($3,400,000)
 Water Quality Management Planning Grants ($700,000 - $1 million with a portion of the funds to be used directly by the MPCA for assessment and monitoring and the other portion used for competitive grants)
 Wildland Fire Management: State and Private Grants ($2 - $5 million there are 21 specific projects submitted some will utilize state contracts while others will sub-grant to nonprofits and local units of government)

Labor, Housing and Economic Development - Total funding in this area as of today with more anticipated $7,247,930,000
 Vocational Rehabilitation ($6,344,891)
 Public Housing Capital Fund ($1 billion nationally on a competitive basis for “priority investments”)
 Assisted Housing Stability and Energy and Green Retrofit Investments (Minnesota’s share of $2.25 billion is unknown, but there could be some competitive grants in this area)
 Housing Tax Credit Exchange Program (The amount in this area is unknown at this time, but there will be competitive grants to finance the contruction or acquisition/rehab of rental housing projects.) 
 Native American Block Grants (The amount for Minnesota is unknown at this time, but competitive funds will be available to tribal organizations for new construction, rehab, acquisition and infrastructure development.)
 Neighborhood Stabilization Program (The amount is unknown at this time but competitive grants will be available for the purchase and rehabilitation of foreclosed and vacant properties in order to create more affordable housing and reduce neighborhood blight.)

This is a tool developed by the Northwest Area Foundation’s Connections Program:

Living With a Hole in Your Pocket is an hour-long documentary that examines the policies and practices – a web of  “Catch 22’s” – that that make it difficult for people working one or more jobs to build the assets needed to get out and stay out of poverty.  Free copies of the DVD are now available and can be ordered online at NWAF Solutions Depot.

Living with a Hole in Your Pocket, produced by CFED, Northwest Area Foundation and Twin Cities Public Television, received a 2008 regional Emmy Award nomination in the Topical Documentaries category for the Upper Midwest Region of the National Television Academy. 

You can preview the hour-long documentary online at

http://www.mnchannel.org/video_archive.php?video_id=13

Visit www.nwaf.org for more information and for a broadcast schedule on the Minnesota Digital Channel.

The Stimulus Plan: What’s in it for You?

Posted: 02/17/2009 by USAA

Months in the making, the massive federal stimulus program is now a reality. Read on to find out if there’s anything in the new law that you can take advantage of.

Wage-earners and the Self-employed

A payroll tax credit will put an extra $400 in many Americans’ pockets in 2009 and 2010 ($800 for married couples). Employees should promptly realize the benefit through reduced withholding from their paychecks. If you’re self-employed, talk to your tax professional about reducing your quarterly estimated tax payments. Like many features of the stimulus plan, this break isn’t for everyone—the credit starts to phase out when your income reaches $75,000, or $150,000 for married couples filing a joint return.

First-time Homebuyers

To bolster the real estate market, the stimulus package offers a tax credit equal to 10% of the purchase price of a first home. Tax credits are more valuable than deductions because they offer a dollar-for-dollar reduction of your tax bill. This one is capped at $8,000 and applies to homes purchased between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2009.

Your right to claim this credit starts to phase out once your income exceeds $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for married couples. Unlike a similar credit passed last year, this one doesn’t have to be repaid—unless you sell the home within three years.

New Car Purchasers

If you buy a new car, light truck, sport utility, recreational vehicle or motorcycle after Feb. 17 and before Dec. 31, 2009, you may be able to deduct the state and local taxes you paid with your purchase. Used cars don’t count.

You don’t even have to itemize your deductions to get this benefit, but there are two important limitations:

• You can only deduct taxes paid on the first $49,500 of the vehicle’s price.
• The tax break starts shrinking once your income hits $125,000 for singles and $250,000 for married couples.

The Unemployed

The legislation provides two key benefits for those who’ve lost their jobs:

• A tax break on benefits. Federal unemployment benefits are usually taxable, but the first $2,400 will be tax-free in 2009.
• Health insurance subsidies. When you lose your job, you generally have the right to keep your health insurance for 18 months—but usually at a much higher out-of-pocket cost. To ease that pain, the stimulus plan creates a federal subsidy to cover 65% of the cost for the first nine months. To be eligible, you must have been forced from your job between Sept. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009. Also, your income can’t be greater than $125,000 for individuals or $250,000 for married couples.

Students

The plan has three features focused on making higher education more affordable.

• A bigger and better HOPE credit. This tuition credit will rise to $2,500 in 2009 and 2010, will be available for four years instead of two, and can now be applied to the cost of books. Eligibility is more liberal too, with the credit phasing out when income reaches $80,000 for singles and $160,000 for couples.
• Larger Pell Grants. These federal education grants for lower-income students will max out at $5,350 in 2009 and $5,550 in 2010—a $500 increase from the current schedule.
• A new use for money in 529 plans. These attractive college savings plans, which allow tax-free withdrawals for qualified expenses, are now even more flexible since they may be used to buy computers, software and Internet service.

Energy Savers

In 2009 and 2010, homeowners can take advantage of a 30% tax credit—up to a maximum $1,500—for energy-saving improvements like:

• Energy-saving water heaters, air conditioners and heat pumps
• Biomass stoves
• Increased insulation
• Energy-efficient doors, windows and skylights