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Committee hears proposal to maintain and expand DEED small-business assistance funding
Summary
Senate File 15-21 would maintain and expand funding for DEED’s Small Business Assistance Partnership, proposing a per-year increase from a $2,725,000 base to $6,425,000 per year for FY26-27 (a $3.7M-per-year uplift, or $7.4M over the biennium).
Senate File 15-21, presented Feb. 24, would maintain and expand funding for the Small Business Assistance Partnership program administered by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Sponsor Senator Powell said the program is a 14-year competitive partnership that delivers free technical assistance to small businesses through nonprofit contractors and CDFIs.
Why it matters: DEED’s Small Business Assistance Partnership supports business advising, coaching and financing connections statewide and targets services to veterans, women, BIPOC entrepreneurs, LGBTQ+ business owners and rural businesses. Fiscal staff and sponsors told the committee the proposal would raise the program’s per-year funding from a current base of $2,725,000 to $6,425,000 per year—an increase of $3,700,000 per year, or $7,400,000 over the FY26-27 biennium. The proposal was described in committee as a one-time biennial increase rather than a permanent base increase.
DEED fiscal staff reported the program received additional funding in the FY24-25 biennium, bringing total biennial funding then to $12,850,000. The bill’s sponsor clarified she is requesting a one-time increase across FY26-27 to reach the higher funding level for the upcoming biennium.
Testimony in support: Business owners and nonprofit providers testified to the program’s impacts. Esther Obeidua, owner of a Brooklyn Park health-care temp agency, said she expanded from five employees in 2021 to 50 in 2024 after receiving business guidance and financial-management assistance. Michael Wiernicki of the Scott County Center for Entrepreneurship said his organization received $282,000 under the program last year and reported 83 entrepreneurs served, $2.8 million in outside capital leveraged and 12 full-time jobs created.
Committee discussion focused on accounting and timing of previous appropriations and how the competitive grant process allocates funds between Greater Minnesota and the metro area. DEED program materials, supplied to the committee, show prior increases and a competitive process with required data reporting from nonprofit contractors.
The committee laid Senate File 15-21 on the table for possible inclusion in the jobs omnibus. No formal committee vote was recorded at the hearing.
