Officials, community lenders report hurdles and fixes as Minnesota Promise Act rolls into second round

Neighborhood Development Center and community lenders told the Senate Committee on Jobs and Economic Development on March 5 that the Minnesota Promise Act has delivered emergency support to hundreds of small businesses but exposed operational and eligibility problems that must be fixed before a larger second round.

NDC President and CEO Renee Dossman said NDC and partner lenders distributed $7,340,000 in the program’s first round to 487 businesses, with an average grant of about $15,000. The program, established in 2021, originally authorized $72,000,000 in state grant funds targeted to businesses in North Minneapolis, South Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The Promise Act aimed to help businesses with operating costs such as payroll, rent, utilities and equipment. "Seventy-four percent of the entrepreneurs said it definitely helped them with access to capital," Dossman said, citing voluntary post‑award responses. She described common uses as equipment, payroll and rent and read a testimony from a grantee: "This grant helped her to fly and to dream and to do," attributing the line to Shontae Holmes, owner of All Washed Up in North Minneapolis.

Why it matters: committee members pressed presenters on whether the remaining roughly $65 million in appropriated Promise Act funds will reach intended recipients, and on safeguards against fraud and waste. Lawmakers and program partners said improvements to outreach, technical assistance and verification are required to reach businesses that lacked the digital, tax‑filing or financial literacy capacity to apply or verify eligibility in round one.

What presenters told the committee

- NDC’s delivery: Dossman described an NDC-built application portal and a…