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Alternatives to Business Incubators <br />rWorkforce Pipeline <br />1 <br />The space available to the City of Ramsey could be used to host a restaurant hub for the area. The 5,000 <br />square feet of space would create a culinary gathering point for the community and act as a draw to residents <br />from other areas. If developed as restaurant space, the City of Ramsey could take the project a step further <br />and create a workforce pipeline in partnership with local schools. This serves the dual purpose of providing <br />space for small businesses, while also providing those businesses with a skilled workforce in addition to <br />employment opportunities for residents. <br />The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce created the Business Education Network and launched a pilot <br />program in Brainerd aimed at providing skilled workers for the local hospitality industry. Local schools used <br />ProStart, a program developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation focusing <br />on practical curriculum and work experience. Starting with an overview of the industry, students will learn <br />kitchen essentials, as well as critical management skills like communication and customer service. Students <br />enrolled in Bridges ProStart classes have the ability to earn a certificate and receive an honor cord and special <br />recognition at high school graduation. Each high school is matched up with chefs and managers from the <br />area's top hospitality businesses and Students work alongside a professional chef with the ultimate goal of <br />permanent employment. <br />Cultivating existing space to an attraction with multiple restaurant startups would be a way to both promote <br />entrepreneurship/small businesses in Ramsey and create a social gathering place for residents. Taking this <br />concept a step further and pairing a restaurant incubator with a targeted workforce development strategy <br />has the potential to create greater opportunities for resident, while also providing restaurant startups with a <br />skilled workforce, better ensuring their economic success. <br />I Craft District <br />An alternative to an incubator Ramsey could explore is a craft district. The City of Duluth's Lincoln Park <br />neighborhood is a good example of a successful craft district. The Lincoln Park Craft District is an effort to <br />rebrand the neighborhood as a collection of similar businesses whose mission is to also help revitalize the <br />neighborhood. The City, nonprofits, and the private sector are working together towards accomplishing <br />this goal. The neighborhood capitalized on its industrial working class history and cheap building space <br />to lure in light manufacturing startups. The City launched a loan program that offers up to $50,000.00 in <br />bridge financing to help startups rehabilitate the old buildings located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. <br />Neighborhood nonprofits work to connect entrepreneurs, and to help them secure funding. Meanwhile, <br />the local businesses that have become established in the neighborhood work together in the Lincoln Park <br />Business Group to promote economic and community development. The local businesses help to keep money <br />circulating within the local economy, which can be reinvested into the area. Ramsey can capitalize on its <br />manufacturing, or other unique history, to help draw in local businesses who also care about the state and <br />health of Ramsey. <br />Business Incubators and the City of Ramsey 23 <br />