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Thursday, February 5, 2015
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Win Season Tickets
Our friends at Minnesota United are giving away a pair of midline season tickets to see professional soccer at the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine this year. Click here to enter.
Help us Take STEP-UP to the Next Level
It has been 12 years since this Chamber first partnered with the City of Minneapolis and AchieveMpls to launch the STEP-UP summer internship program. Since that time, STEP-UP has grown from 49 employers in 2004 to over 230 employers last summer, and provided nearly 18,000 total internships.
Although STEP-UP has three components that serve Minneapolis youth, Explore, Discover and Achieve, the Chamber's focus has been on the latter. Achieve offers career-oriented jobs for the most prepared STEP-UP interns who are seeking a professional experience and more challenging opportunities. Youth, ages 16-21, work in private sector businesses, public agencies and nonprofits.
For the summer of 2015, the programs' goal is to place 800 STEP-UP Achieve interns in part time summer jobs. Many of you already support this great program and we sincerely thank you. We hope that you will return this year and consider providing opportunities to more students.
For those of you who have not yet stepped up (sorry, couldn't resist), I urge you to do so for this reason. We have been sharing with you for some time that Minnesota faces an unprecedented labor shortage. Programs like STEP-UP are essential to insure that you can find the talent you will need to fill positions created by growth and retirements. Through this initiative, you can literally build a recruiting pipeline for your business while diversifying your future workforce.
The Chamber has always participated in STEP-UP and has been very happy with the results. I urge you to learn more about this innovative, award winning program and how it can serve your business and our community at the same time.
Find out more at achievempls.org/stepupachieve or by calling Jeremiah Brown at 612-455-1562.
Unique Volunteer Opportunity
The Chamber's community outreach program, Chamber Community Connections, sponsored by Thrivent, continues this year with opportunities for you and your team members to volunteer with great nonprofits. The next event is February 25. We will be helping at YouthLink's dinner celebrating Black History Month. Click here for more information.
Sweet Deals for Valentine's Day
Several of your fellow members are offering great specials for Valentine's Day. Check them out here.
Todd Klingel
President & CEO
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce
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WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MEMBERS
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Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs Competition to Award more than $450,000 for Best Use of Tech
Comcast Business announced that for the second consecutive year the company will seek out the nation's most innovative startup companies and entrepreneurs to compete in the Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs competition. Contest applicants must submit a 250-word essay explaining how they would use $30,000 in technology investment to enhance their business.
Startups and entrepreneurs are encouraged to visit business.comcast.com/i4E to submit their application and essay and review the full program details. Entries are due by March 15, 2015.
Entries will be judged and two winners will be selected in each of the 16 Comcast Business Regions: one winner for startup companies (in business less than two years) and one winner for entrepreneurs (in business for more than two years). The 32 regional winners will each earn $10,000 in cash. From the regional winners, six grand prize winners will be selected - three startups and three entrepreneurs - who will earn an additional $20,000 in cash, plus a trip to Philadelphia and business advice from industry experts.
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A Toast to VEAP
VEAP presents A Toast to VEAP, wine and beer tasting benefit to be held on Friday, February 27 from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm at VEAP, 9600 Aldrich Avenue South in Bloomington. Wine connoisseurs and beer dabblers alike will enjoy an assortment of wines and craft brews, along with appetizers by local establishments. There will also be a raffle featuring wine baskets and local excursions. A Toast to VEAP will kick off the March Food Drive, a month long campaign to restock VEAP's food shelf. Tickets can be purchased for an early bird price of $35 (or $45 after February 14) on-line at atoasttoveap.veap.org.
Click here to read more.
Top LGBT equality marks by Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) - dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender civil rights - evaluated workplace equality at leading employers. The following Chamber member businesses received perfect scores of 100 on the HRC survey: Ameriprise Financial, Inc.; Dorsey & Whitney; General Mills, Inc.; Lindquist & Vennum; RBC Wealth Management; Target Corporation and U.S. Bancorp.
Goff Public - Goff Public COO Jennifer Hellman received the 2014 Spurgeon Award in recognition of her leadership and community service from Chamber member Northern Star Council, which operates scouting programs in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
- The Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce presented the Deubener Award to Goff Public in the "For Profit Service Business" category. Recognizing small, innovative businesses for more than 30 years, this award honors organizations with a strong ethic for community giving and service.
- Goff's pro-bono client, Innocence Project of Minnesota, honored the company with the "Never Forgotten" award for assisting the Innocence Project in securing passage of a state law that provides financial compensation to people who were wrongfully convicted of crimes.
- Five U.S. Bank executives in the Twin Cities metropolitan area are among the "2014 Top Women In Finance," as determined by Finance & Commerce. The honorees are: Kim Brustuen, CFA, vice president, regional sales manager, U.S. Bank Corporate Treasury Division; Liz Deziel, vice president and managing director, Private Banking, The Private Client Reserve; Sally Mullen, senior vice president, chief fiduciary officer, U.S. Bank Wealth Management. (A second time honoree, Mullen was also named to the Top Women in Finance's Circle of Excellence); Angie O'Leary, senior vice president, head of Investment Solutions, U.S. Bank Wealth Management and Margaret Paddock, senior vice president, Twin Cities Market Leader, The Private Client Reserve.
- G.I. Jobs Magazine named U.S. Bank one of the nation's Top 100 Military Friendly Employers� for the fourth consecutive year. Approximately 2,000 U.S. Bank employees are veterans, including National Guard and Reserve members.
- The bank, through the U.S. Bank Foundation, awarded a $26,500 grant to Defenders of Freedom in Dallas/Fort Worth for general purpose economic opportunities. Defenders of Freedom is a non- profit organization committed to supporting wounded troops in their transition to civilian life and empowering all verified veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn with life & career mentoring, job search assistance.
Globe University
Tom Kosel, director of government relations for the Globe Education Network (GEN), a collaborative body of career colleges, universities and training centers, has been recognized by the Minnesota Career Colleges Association (MCCA) with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award. Kosel has served as the MCCA Legislative Chair since 2000, Kosel and the MCCA Legislative Committee advocate on behalf of students, and build positive relationships with legislative and regulatory officials on both the state and federal level. Also, Globe University has partnered with Minnesota-based Schneiderman's Furniture to launch the Schneiderman's Business and Sales Cooperative Training program. The program was developed to help the business attract motivated sales consultants, as well as strengthen the skills of existing employees; giving them the foundation for career growth through academic and hands-on training.
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RECENT RIBBON CUTTINGS & GRAND OPENINGS
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 Anytime Fitness
8599 Lyndale Avenue South
Bloomington, MN 55420
anytimefitness.com
Owners Marie & Cliff Gray cut the ribbon for their new Anytime Fitness on Lyndale Ave. in Bloomington.
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UPCOMING RIBBON CUTTINGS & GRAND OPENINGS
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YogaFit Studios
Friday, February 20, 2015 | 5:30 p.m.
In the new RED 20 Apartment Building
520 First Ave. N.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55413
www.yogafitstudios.com
Please RSVP to Brent at [email protected] if you plan to attend.
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 Shift Fitness, Massage and Yoga
Sunday, February 22, 2015 | 3:00 p.m.
2105 Central Ave. N.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55418
www.shiftne.com
Please RSVP to Brent at [email protected] if you plan to attend.
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Thank You! for making the 26th Annual
Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Gala "totally radical!"
 We had an awesome time on Saturday night at The Westin Edina Galleria. Our sold-out event was packed with over-the-top fun and entertainment, with over 250 people bidding on silent auction items, enjoying delectable desserts and jamming along to the Purple Xperience. The Ghostbusters, Devo and Richard Simmons even made appearances!
Our sincerest thank you to all of our supporters who made the event on January 24, 2015 so successful! We appreciate everything you do!
Check out our Sponsor Thank You video!
Click here to view photos from our 26th Annual Gala!
Thank you to our sponsors: Mall of America, Hubbard Broadcasting, Radisson Blu Mall of America, ABRA, CenterPoint Energy, RBCU, Sheraton Bloomington, The Westin Edina Galleria, Weber Shandwick, Bloomington CVB, edgproductions, Fairview Southdale Hospital, HealthPartners, Normandale Community College; Sanford-Brown College, Southwest Airlines; Total Wine & More, Wells Fargo, Xcel Energy, Boyum & Barenscheer, CPAs; David M. Senness, CPA; FastSigns of Bloomington; Haller & Associates LLC, Kraus-Anderson, M. A. Mortenson Company, Matreks Printing, Minnesota Vikings Football, LLC, MORTGAGES UNLIMITED, INC., Tunheim, Williams & Associates, Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc., Freeway Ford and Sam's Club
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50% OFF Dining Out For Life Sponsorships
The Aliveness Project - Limited time offer.
Get 50% off all sponsorships for Dining Out for Life. This fundraiser raises much needed funds for the services at The Aliveness Project. On one day, 220+ restaurants throughout Minnesota donate a portion of their sales on this day, Thursday, April 30, 2015, to The Aliveness Project. Last year, our advertising had over 6 million impressions - print materials, websites, City Pages, Lavender Magazine, etc. For as low as $500, people could see your company for the first time.
The Aliveness Project is a local nonprofit organization that provides hot meals, food shelf services, integrative therapies, and other supportive services to HIV-infected individuals and their families. The Aliveness Project is devoted to enhancing the quality of life and maintaining the dignity of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Click here for details.
For questions or extended packet, please contact Tim Marburger at [email protected] or 612-822-7946, ext. 204.
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   Enhanced Listing Opportunity
Click here for details.
Did you know that over 31,000 people visit the Chamber's website every month? And that for as a little as $150 you can show off your company to thousands of potential clients? The Chamber now offers Enhanced Listings in our Online Membership Directory. Your company is immediately bumped to the top of your category in search results and includes a YouTube video, a photo gallery, 1,600 character description, 20 additional keywords and much more!
You can check out the Minneapolis Regional Chamber's Enhanced Listing by clicking here and compare it with your listing in our online directory.
Contact Lisa Myhre at (612) 370-9137 or Rhonda Bernard at (612) 370-9121 today!
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Meet the Chamber! Bloomington
 Tuesday, February 10, 2015
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. / Bloomington Chamber
Thank you to our luncheon sponsor: Papa John's
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Chamber Town Talk: Energy Efficiency:
Making the Case for Business
Thursday, February 12, 2015
8 to 9:30 a.m. / Jax Cafe
Thank you to our sponsors: Eastside Food Cooperative, Comcast, Jax Cafe and Wells Fargo
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Happy Hour Networking at
DoubleTree by Hilton Bloomington/Minneapolis South
Thursday, February 19, 2015
4:30 to 6:30 p.m. / DoubleTree by Hilton Bloomington/Minneapolis South
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DRIVE Roundtable: Mayo Square: Medicine in the Metro
Friday, February 20, 2015
7:30 to 9 a.m. / the Local
Thank you to our sponsor: Wells Fargo, Foley & Mansfield, PLLP, Cara Irish Pubs and Xcel Energy
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Lunch & Learn: How to Create Compelling Content
Friday, February 20, 2015
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. / University of St. Thomas, Opus College of Business
Thank you to our presenting sponsor: UPS
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Good Morning Minneapolis: Tourism and the Economy
Friday, February 27, 2015
7:30 to 9 a.m. / Seasons-Minneapolis Convention Center
Thank you to our presenting sponsor: Xcel Energy
Thank you to our series sponsor: CenturyLink
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Country Inn & Suites
