Snelling-Midway Jobs Strategy Workgroup

Overview

The goal of the Snelling-Midway Jobs Strategy Workgroup was to maximize the retention and attraction of jobs and businesses on the Snelling-Midway site and in the surrounding area. This economic development partnership from the public and private sectors coordinated efforts to address the following:

• Business and Job Retention
• Employment Transitions
• Business and Job Attraction
• Local Employment

Download the final report

Process

The workgroup met from January 2016 through July 2016 to address the following:

• Develop and share the City’s, partners’, owners’ and community’s economic development goals for the site
• Discuss why jobs matter at this site
• Review and discuss preliminary information around site plan and redevelopment scenarios, allowable uses, and known site amenities and constraints
• Identify tools and resources available for business and employee transitions
• Identify needs of businesses relocating off of the site, and match with potential sites and spaces
• Identify and evaluate potential employment categories and sectors for the site, including numbers and types of jobs
• Report on recommended employment types for the site, and next steps on potential job recruitment and outreach
• Develop a targeted job recruitment strategy and outreach plan, including marketing and business tools to support the attraction of jobs to the site
• Establish a lead for coordinating partner agencies and organizations around local workforce training and hiring

Over the same time period, organizations participating in the workgroup coordinated to carry out their specific tasks, including meeting with businesses seeking new locations, and providing services to employees transitioning to new jobs.

Timeline

• December 2015: Recruit jobs task force members
• January – February 2016: Convene the group for facilitated discussions
• February 2016: Share preliminary recommendations to the Community Advisory Commitee (CAC)
• March 2016: Draft report available
• July 2016: Final report available
• January 2016 and beyond: Provide business retention and engage employment transition services (as needed)

Business and Job Retention

Workgroup members coordinated efforts to assist existing Snelling-Midway 
businesses affected by the redevelopment in finding new locations on or near the site.

For businesses seeking assistance, staff from Workgroup organizations:

• Met one-on-one to talk about space needs and requirements, whether temporary or longer-term
• If desired, connected businesses with real estate brokers to research and market best site matches based on their requirements
• Leveraged our economic development partner network to uncover space opportunities not currently on the market (i.e. early leads, subleases/”gray spaces”)
• Connected businesses with technical and financial tools to help them build and grow their businesses in the City of Saint Paul

Employment Transitions

For employees working on the site that need to find new employment, workgroup members coordinated to efficiently link people to workforce training and job search information and services such as:

• Vocational assessments to help identify strengths and interests to determine goals for employment and education
• Employment training and education courses to provide employment training through industry-specific, hands-on work experience and classroom instruction
• Transitional employment programs to train participants in the skills needed to gain and maintain employment
• Job development and placement services to assist individuals in finding and maintaining employment and advancing their careers
• Job coaching and follow-up services
• Access to MinnesotaWorks.net, the online job bank, and other employment websites to search for and apply for jobs

Business and Job Attraction

Given the unique nature of the site and surrounding area, workgroup members created a plan for identifying and attracting emerging employment leaders and key regional industry sectors.

Local Employment

Workgroup partners coordinated their efforts to help connect local employees to new jobs (both construction and permanent) created on and near the site. Strategies included the use of an on-site employment hiring center and job postings through the Midway Chamber and Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, service organizations and clubs (i.e. Rotary), local churches and labor unions.