Zinnia Folk Arts, importer of quality Mexican art is moving to their brick and mortar location at 816 West 50th Street next week. They invite you to their grand opening Friday, May 18 through Sunday May 20. Appetizers from Cafe Ena will be served on Friday from 6-9 pm.

Join Erik Brown of Remax Results on Saturday, June 9th for the 2nd annual Pirate Crawl to Uptown! Enjoy a fun night of great drink specials, prizes for best costume, treasure map raffle and more!

Meet at the Uptown Cafeteria & Support Group, 3001 Hennepin Ave S, at 5:30 to pick up your map, enter the raffle and begin the fun.

George and the Dragon Pub opened April 30 at 813 West 50th Street after much anticipation! And the wait was well worth it. The newest business at 50th and Bryant Ave S, is open Monday – Thursday 11 am to 10 pm; Friday and Saturday till 11 pm and 9 am to 2 pm on Sunday.

Southwestminneapolis.patch.com chats with chef Thomas Broder about the upcoming show. Read more!

The City of Minneapolis is seeking input on the re-establishment and re-structure of the Real Estate Acquisition Loan Program (REP), formerly the Capital Acquisition Loan Program (CAL).  Please submit your comments by Monday, May 14, 2012 via e-mail to Nila McDonald, Economic Development Specialist, Business Finance, Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (612) 673-5189. If you or your group would like to meet to discuss the proposed guideline changes or if you have any questions, please contact Nila McDonald.

The City of Minneapolis currently supports business financing assistance to businesses and entrepreneurs through various programs and contracts administered by the Department of Community Planning and Economic Development.   The new guidelines (see attached) changes the old Capital Acquisition Loan (CAL) Program, established in 1998, to the REP and will allow this program to be available once again for small business owners to purchase or relocate to a property in which to operate.

The minor change to the guidelines from the CAL Program is that the City will now directly fund 5% of loan rather than fund a default reserve of 5-20% on each loan such as was the case with the CAL Program.  The 5% will be in the form of a loan to the business and repaid to the City at market rate over the term of the loan.   The loan will be secured by a shared 2nd position with the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers.

The proposed new guidelines can be viewed by clicking here.

NEHBA member, Pat’s Tap, is featured on the StarTrib Eat + Drink website. Read all about it!

An 11-member panel of real-estate experts selected the finalists, along with winners in 19 categories, recognizing the top developments, transactions and property management from 2011. NEHBA Business Member, Lehman’s Garage on Lyndale is a finalist! Click here to read more!

Save the Date! NEHBA is planning a social media workshop on Tuesday, April 10, from 12:30 to 1:30pm at the Washburn Library Meeting Room (downstairs), 5244 Lyndale Ave S.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012 • 2 – 3 PM
Curran’s Restaurant • 42nd St and Nicollet Ave S

Featured Speaker: Rebecca Parrell, Sr Project Manager, CPED (Community Planning and Economic Development)

Rebecca will be presenting information and answering questions about loan and grant options available to small business through the City of Minneapolis. NEHBA was recently awarded a 4th round of the Great Streets Business Facade Improvement Grant (GSFI) for $50,000. If you are interested in exterior improvements to your business, your business maybe eligible for the GSFI grant.

Featured Business: Rachel Stulen and Elizabeth Odegaard of Thrivent Financial

Lake Harriet Veterinary will host their 4th American Red Cross blood drive on Saturday, April 28 from 10 am to 3 pm. The blood mobile will be parking in front of their building on the corner of 43rd & Bryant Ave S. People are encouraged to sign up online at redcrossblood.org and use sponsor code @0177444.