Kingfield Neighborhood Association

Nicollet Pop-Off #2: Sustainably Small @40th with the Kingfield Farmers Market

By

Sunday August 7th, 8:30am-1pm at the Kingfield Farmers Market, 4055 Nicollet

Come celebrate National Farmer’s Market week at the Kingfield Farmers’ Market; find us in the parking lot of MLK Park!
This second Nicollet pop-off event of the summer features a variety of fun events including:

  • marketplace yoga (8:30-9:30 AM);
  • live music by a Kingfield PorchFest local duo, Sweet Armadillo;
  • a cooking demo from locally acclaimed Young Man Chef;
  • a kid’s scavenger hunt with fun prizes;
  • and a chance to share your hopes and challenges with KFNA about Nicollet Avenues culture, traffic, and new opportunities due to the eventual moving of Kmart!

Simultaneously get your shopping for the week done and support local vendors! All activities are free.

Questions? Contact  or call 612-824-9402. 

Thinking of a New Job?

By

Minneapolis’ Small Business Team Community Office Hours

Tuesday, April 19 | 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall

The City’s Small Business Team works to help people start and grow small businesses in Minneapolis. They recently launched the Minneapolis Business Portal, which provides entrepreneurs and business owners with valuable information and resources to plan, launch, and grow a business.

DEED begins making Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments to self-employed & independent contractors

By

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced on Friday, April 24 the agency began making Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments to people who are self-employed, independent contractors, and other eligible recipients who are not eligible for regular unemployment benefits.

Here’s what you need to know about applying for PUA:

  • If you have already applied for regular unemployment benefits, you do not need to do anything extra to qualify for PUA. DEED will automatically establish a PUA benefit account for you if you are eligible.
  • If you have not applied for unemployment benefits yet, special instructions for self-employed and 1099 workers are available here. These instructions include steps you can take to make your account easily identifiable as potentially eligible for PUA.
    • If you applied for unemployment benefits without following those instructions, don’t worry – you don’t need to change anything. Your account will still be reviewed for PUA eligibility.
  • If you have not heard from DEED yet, don’t worry. We expect to be in touch with most people who are eligible for benefits under PUA by the end of April. There is no need to call or follow-up; you will hear from us proactively if we need additional information to determine eligibility.
  • You will receive information about PUA benefits in your online account, by email, and by mail.
  • Applicants who receive PUA benefits will also receive the $600/week additional payment.
  • PUA benefits will be backdated to whenever you first became eligible due to COVID-19.

Additional information, including answers to many commonly asked questions, can be found here: COVID-19 information for self-employed people and independent contractors

Assistance for Businesses and Contractors due to COVID-19

By

There are some programs coming on-line or changing that can help businesses and self-employed people coming out of the Federal CARES Act signed into law last week that we want to draw your attention to:

  • Businesses should be planning their requests to the new Paycheck Protection Program.   The program becomes live as soon as this Friday (4/3). Businesses (including self-employed) can receive forgivable loans up-to-250% of its payroll to support its employees and occupancy expenses. No collateral requirements, no fees, no payments for 6 months. The loan is forgiven in eight weeks if the business can show it used the funds for eligible expenses. Lending through the businesses’ bank or an SBA qualified lender.  The City is working with the Too Local to Fail Coalition led by the Minneapolis Chamber.  We will be launching an awareness campaign for this resource tomorrow, so you will see more on it.  Included in this campaign is a webinar hosted by Sunrise Banks at 1 p.m. tomorrow.  We will share details on accessing that webinar as soon as these are available.

paycheck-protection-program-ppp

 

  • The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans are live.  These loans are up-to-$2 million at 3.75% with favorable teams.  What’s new is that the SBA streamlined its process and now offers now an up-front $10,000 grant against the loan.

https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance

 

  • The CARES Act also included the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.  This program expands who is eligible for Unemployment Insurance to those individuals who do not qualify for regular unemployment compensation and are unable to work because of COVID-19. This includes self-employed workers (including gig workers and independent contractors), part-time workers, and those with limited work histories. It also increases unemployment benefits and make them available for additional weeks to benefits.  The State of Minnesota administers this program.  It is awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor on how to implement the program and the expanded services will be available in the near future.

https://www.uimn.org/

Disaster Loans & Immediate Financial Support for Small Businesses Now Available

By

The Small Business Administration has announced an Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to support businesses affected by COVID-19. If you’re a business owner who has been impacted by this crisis, you can apply for a disaster loan online. There are a number of forms it is helpful to fill out beforehand, and you can see a list of those — along with more information about this program — here. In addition, the Small Business Administration’s Minnesota office is hosting two trainings, twice a day every day, until our community’s needs are met. Find the full listing of upcoming trainings and register by scrolling down the “Small Business Events” section of this website and selecting “show entire month.”

In another executive order, Governor Tim Walz authorized the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to launch a Small Business Emergency Loan program for those whose operations have been affected by COVID-19. This program offers immediate assistance to small businesses and independent contractors, groups that are among the most impacted by the pandemic. The program is designed to help with immediate needs as federal and other aid programs get underway, including independent contractors’ needs – we have many of these workers in our community, and getting resources to them is critical.

In total, this program will deploy $30 million in state funds through a lender network to make loans of $2,500 to $35,000 for qualifying small businesses. The loans will be 50% forgivable and offered at a 0% interest rate. If you have questions, email .