As long as the Hennepin County Commissioners are discussing public financing for a Twins stadium, and local officials are in on the conversations, I suggest we open up the competition-- after all, this is mpls.issues list. Lets look at some real opportunities to foster local economic development.
While the Hennepin County Commissioners are at it, why not have the public finance some nice new downtown Mpls. office and warehouse space, and then invite all the local and out-of-state entrepreneurs in to set up shop. After all, they would create all kinds of local jobs and those folks would then pay taxes, buy lunches/dinners at nearby restaurants and multiply the benefits throughout the local economy... many times over-- right? All kinds of synergies. Maybe even pull in some international architectural design teams to compete for the commissions. Lure entrepreneurial tenants from around the state, maybe even the region. Maybe the Mpls. City Council would even kick in some funding, since the voters haven't yet voted down such a concept via a local referendum vote-- might as well leverage some local money in the process. Sounds like a real deal! Sign me up. I could use a nice new office with subsidized rent, new furniture and plenty of nearby parking... I could even reduce my rates and undercut my non-metro competition, since the taxpayers would be paying/subsidizing/securing my rent. Of course if I had the only business of its type in town, I wouldn't have to cut my rates-- I could hire the best talent around (thanks to my low rent), expand and become another proverbial fat-cat, join the national association, and buy season seats and boxes in the local sports stadia! Oh yeah, and if I broke my lease for some reason, or just dropped over dead, and another prospective tenant didn't like the (public's) lease terms, the public would just have to refinance the deal... make those terms a little more attractive to those hard-to-lure, shrewd entrepreneurs. After all, why would they move in if there wasn't some financial reason/incentive to lure them? Mpls. could become the small business hub of the Midwest in no time-- jobs galore, with new taxes flowing to state and local government. Local colleges and universities would join the fray and entrepreneurship classes would be offered on every street corner; with SBIC's and SSBIC's, SBDC's, CDC's and micro-lending agencies located in every neighborhood. And what better way to leverage our tax dollars? So what if local lenders don't like the idea-- let them in on the real estate and bonding deals, that should placate them. What a way to grow the local economy. Why haven't we thought of this before? [Case One- Scenario 2 in this saga involves use of tax increment financing in a very innovative manner. Scenario 3 involves municipal competition within the county for all these entrepreneurs and new jobs, Scenario 4 moves to multi-county competition, and Scenario 4a pits Mpls. against St. Paul in the competition. I'm still working on the sensitivity analysis under varying economic conditions, but it looks pretty good. My cash flow projections seem excellent under all scenarios. Case Two is beyond the scope of this post.] Call today for help with your business and marketing plans, proforma financials, etc. It's been said that there's a sucker born every minute. Just what economic development scenario is being peddled here? And who are the suckers? The taxpayer's/voter's voice should be heard and heeded... since it sounds like they are again being asked-- no they are being told- to foot the bill (this on both sides of the river). All this, while our schools are closing and public budgets of all ilk are being cut. Where are our priorities? Michael Hohmann 13th www.mahohmannbizplans.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
