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Economic Development Communications

Welcome to the Hennepin County Economic Development toolkit repository for initiatives, programs and promotional partners. 

Below, you will find toolkits, image collateral and other essential documents for the department's small business support programs. Please use this content to help promote Hennepin County's resources for small businesses on your websites, in your newsletters, social media, and in other outreach. 

Contact information for each program is within the toolkit documentation. For questions about how to use this page or issues accessing written materials or image collateral, please email Nick Upton at Nick.upton@hennepin.us

Our staff is also available to talk to your organization about Hennepin County’s small business resources. Please email economic.development@hennepin.us if you would like someone from Hennepin County to present about these resources at your business-support event. 

Leondra, one of many business owners who have used Elevate Hennepin.

Elevate Hennepin

Elevate Hennepin is a team and platform for a wide range of businesses in Hennepin County. 

Thanks to Hennepin County's investment, Elevate Hennepin brings together experts, tools, and group learning to help new and established businesses gain their footing, plan for next steps, and expand upon their success.

Collateral: 

A woman sitting in her new business after completing CEO Start and validating her business idea.

CEO Start

CEO Start is a 10-week group-learning program that prepares aspiring and existing entrepreneurs with insights, relationships, and tools to turn their ideas into viable businesses. 

Peer groups of 10 to 15 entrepreneurs will work through the nationally recognized curriculum focused on testing ideas and identifying key assumptions through interviews, peer-to-peer conversation, research, and facilitated discussions on key foundational elements.

Collateral: 

A man in a business suit checking his phone.

CEO Now

CEO Now is a new group-learning program from Hennepin County that provides growth-focused training for small business owners. It’s for small, established business owners with a growth mindset. This training is delivered by Interise and builds on the organization’s award-winning StreetWise ‘MBA’ education. The Interise curriculum has been effective in helping businesses lay the groundwork for growth, economic development, and job creation.

Open to all Hennepin-based businesses that meet eligibility requirements, CEO Now is designed as a way for small-business owners to learn systems and processes to grow their business. 

Collateral: 

Mercedes Austin, CEO of Mercury Mosaics and participant in CEO Next

CEO Next

CEO Next Business Institute is a regional program that offers business owners an opportunity to learn with their peers from experts, dig deep into how their business functions, and develop a skillset for the next phase of growth.

Qualifying business owners across Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Carver, and Dakota counties can access this program at no cost thanks to participating counties’ investment.

Collateral: 

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