DEED has awarded 35 grants totaling more than $19 million for rehabilitation and infrastructure projects in Greater Minnesota.

The Small Cities Development Program helps pay for rehabilitating housing and commercial buildings and updating public infrastructure in small cities and counties. The program is part of the Community Development Block Grant Program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is funded by Congress.

“These grants provide an important investment in Greater Minnesota communities,” said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. “This funding will help to increase and improve much needed housing which leads to positive economic activity.”

To be eligible for the funding, a project must meet one of three objectives: benefit people of low and moderate incomes, eliminate slum and blighted conditions, or eliminate an urgent threat to public health or safety.

Cities and townships with populations under 50,000 and counties with populations under 200,000 are eligible for grants under the program. Projects must be completed within 30 months, depending on size and scope.

Go here for the full news release and list of projects.

Minnesota Businesses Feeling Optimistic

Minnesota business services firms are positive about the economy: Nearly 90 percent expecting sales revenue to increase or remain stable next year, but 68 percent expect their supply of workers to remain stable. That’s down from 77 percent last year.

Only 7 percent of respondents anticipate labor availability to grow next year.

The results were based on a random sample of 1,200 Minnesota business services firms recently surveyed by DEED and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

The 2018 Survey of Minnesota Business Services Firms has more details, but here are a few highlights:

• 49 percent expect sales to grow and 40 percent expect them to remain the same in 2019.
• 45 percent expect profits to grow and 41 percent expect them to remain the same.
• 34 percent expect productivity to grow and 60 percent expect it to remain the same.
• 22 percent expect employment levels to grow and 73 percent expect them to remain the same.

A new survey question asked about impact of changes in federal tax legislation. The large majority of respondents reported no changes in employment (83 percent), capital expenditure and wages (72 percent), customer demand (68 percent) and profits (66 percent), due to this new federal law.