Hennepin County — Transcript
Sunday, March 16, 2025
Story
Hennepin County celebrates Small Business Week, highlights program success
Votes (1)
Proclamation for Small Business Week 2024 and Entrepreneur Testimonials
Dissent: None
Moved by Commissioner Connley [0:04] · Seconded by Unknown [0:06]
Commissioner Connley introduced a proclamation recognizing Small Business Week in Hennepin County, citing statistics on the prevalence and economic importance of small businesses. Two entrepreneurs, Janita Flowers (Jan's Jar) and Heidi Mueller (Exceler Candle Company), shared powerful testimonies about how the Elevate Hennepin initiative and its CEO Now program provided crucial support, mentorship, and funding. Their stories demonstrated the program's effectiveness in helping businesses overcome challenges, expand operations nationally, increase employment, and secure major retail partnerships, thereby fostering a vibrant small business economy.
Notable Quotes (4)
normally as small business owners we can't invest in the expertise to elevate our businesses to the where we need to go but it was through Elaine's introduction to elevate hennipen Not only was I able to get that support but through that to be able to step into some of those opportunities I was able to qualify for and receive a $50,000 loan with a 2% interest rate
this year I just found out actually last month we're adding 30 more Target stores and we're launching into 17 of our local Cub Food stores within the next month
a year ago before the program I was really considering closing my business down it gotten to the point with covid and everything my mother passed away and then I was taking care of my dad full-time and I just lost all the drive and the will to just keep going on and it was just me doing this and being an entrepreneur is so isolating anyways
I've hired 18 people I've gotten into Walmart I went down there last year to do a presentation and I would never had the tools unless I had this program and I got to present and I got a golden ticket down at Walmart so it's a huge thing and so it's just changed my life and I've actually bought two more companies this year
Ordinances & Resolutions (4)
Official declaration recognizing April 28th to May 4th, 2024, as Small Business Week in Hennepin County.
Formal document read by the clerk, supporting the Small Business Week proclamation and outlining the county's support for entrepreneurs.
Hennepin County program offering expert consultants, training, and a library of resources at no cost to entrepreneurs and businesses.
A group learning opportunity within Elevate Hennepin designed for established businesses to build systems and processes.