Wealth Building and Financial Stability

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Currently, corridor residents have access to a variety of existing programs offering education, skills training, and workforce opportunities. Before, during, and after construction, we will work to ensure the local community has more robust opportunities to access workforce training and new pathways to meaningful employment and financial stability. These include efforts to prepare interested corridor residents for jobs in LRT construction, transit operations and maintenance, and other employment opportunities in the BLE corridor.

1. CONNECT people to anti-displacement efforts.

Focused Navigation & Outreach:

Hennepin County will contract with community-based organizations that operate in the corridor to provide outreach, services and support in partnership with county navigators. Partners will continue to target outreach through county navigators, community-based organizations, and community networks within the corridor as well as invest in marketing to connect people to services. Outreach partners will be trained to connect community members with workforce development programs that can help them prepare for new job opportunities or connect to employers and roles that meet their goals.

Status: In place
Owners: Hennepin County
(Before, during and after construction)

2. PROVIDE employment and training support.

Employment Strategist:

Hennepin County has invested in a new Employment Strategist role to support employment and training programs and wraparound services for corridor members. In partnership with jurisdictions, this role will closely monitor employment trends and community engagement feedback to identify opportunities to target and improve employment and training programs to ensure programs continue to meet the needs of the corridor community.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owners: Hennepin County
(Before, during and after construction)

Leverage Workforce Development & Financial Support Programs:

Using feedback from community engagement and data on employment trends, partners will learn about the unique employment needs for individuals and businesses in the corridor, which will be used to target or adapt existing employment and training programs. Hennepin County will develop tools to identify existing programs supporting the corridor, who is being served, and where there are gaps in services, which will be used to identify where further action is needed and how to target the corridor’s needs.

Status: See section below for programs in place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owners: Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County, Minneapolis
(Before, during and after construction)

3. INCREASE corridor participation in the BLE’s construction and operation.

BLE Training & Hiring:

The BLE will bring new construction, operations, and maintenance jobs to the corridor, which will offer meaningful opportunities for stable employment within the corridor community. The Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County are incorporating opportunities to prepare people for construction, operations, and maintenance roles through employment and training services operating within the corridor. Additionally, they are considering how targeted recruitment and hiring practices could support hiring corridor residents for these roles.

Status: In development, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owners: Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County, Cities
(Before, after and during construction)


Support for residents (renters and homeowners)

Workforce Development & Financial Support Programs

Hennepin County Workforce Development:

Hennepin County supports numerous federal, state, and locally funded employment and training programs that support residents in gaining meaningful, sustainable employment.

Status: In place, federally- and locally-funded programs may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: Hennepin County

Current programs include:

• Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program: (SNAP) Employment and Training: A program with a goal to help people receiving SNAP food benefits gain skills, training, or experience, leading to economic self-sufficiency.

• Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP): A program to help low-income families with children move out of poverty through work opportunities.

• Dislocated Worker Programs: Funded through the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and state resources, these programs are designed to provide people who have become recently unemployed with access to education, training, and support services to reenter the workforce.

• WIOA Adult and Youth Programs: Funded through the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), these programs for unemployed/underemployed adults and youth facing barriers to employment increase jobseekers’ access to employment, education, training, and support services.

• Hennepin GO Pathways: Hennepin County Employment Growth and Opportunity (GO) Pathways Program is a unique and collaborative partnership between employers, educators, and community providers and is a tangible connection for job seekers to meaningful work with livable wages, benefits and growth potential. The GO Pathways solution helps Hennepin County and other employers in the region find qualified candidates and close employment disparities by creating diverse pools of well-trained and high potential applicants.

• Hennepin GO Internships: Hennepin County Employment Growth and Opportunity (GO) offers internships for youth and young adults in over 50 departments at Hennepin County., Internships are designed to provide paid work experience along with career exploration, developmental workshops, networking, and mentoring opportunities. The county also partners with Achieve Twin Cities and the cities of Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, and Brooklyn Park to offer summer internship opportunities.

• Benefits Cliff Pilot Program: Hennepin County is partnering with community-based organizations to implement programs aimed at reducing, and ultimately eliminating, the negative impacts that residents who are receiving, or recently received, public assistance experience from earned income.

• Employment Training for People Exiting Homelessness Program: Hennepin County’s Office of Workforce Development and Housing Stability have partnered with two non-profit organizations to provide low-barrier employment and training services with flexible wrap-around supports to people exiting homelessness. The program supports adults who currently or have recently (within 6 months) experienced homelessness.

• Workforce Development Roster Program: A consortium of 34 non-profit organizations pre-qualified to respond to requests to develop employment and training services for program-specific workforce development needs. The partners are able to efficiently develop services to meet urgent workforce development needs identified within the community.

Minneapolis Workforce Development: Similar to Hennepin County, Minneapolis offers substantial employment and training opportunities for youth and adults, including programs designed to prepare participants for employment with Minneapolis public works, firefighting, and police jobs and substantial career exploration and internship opportunities for youth and young adults.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: Minneapolis

BrookLynk: This youth employment program is a partnership between the cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center dedicated to addressing regional talent and workforce needs by supporting and investing in young people facing barriers to employment.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center

Youth Employment and Training Initiatives: This Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board effort provides youth-focused employment and training opportunities. Opportunities include the Minneapolis Parks Corps and Teen Teamworks, which specifically targets youth from under-represented and/or unserved communities.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP): The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development oversees this program, which provides grants to businesses to develop new job training or retraining programs for workers in order to meet current and future workforce needs of Minnesota businesses. The Low Income Worker Training Program offers up to $200,000 to public, private, and nonprofit entities to help low-income workers gain new skills and move towards greater economic self-sufficiency.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: State of Minnesota

Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI): Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis have piloted guaranteed basic income programs that are now complete or slated to end in 2024. Both pilots included participants from the BLE corridor. These programs provided direct cash transfer to participants without qualifications on income and employment status (initial eligibility for the county pilot included income and employment guidelines), or requirements for how the funds are spent. These programs improve near-term stability for households, which helps them access employment-based opportunities that provide long-term pathways to wealth creation. Corridor cities, philanthropic or community-based partners will be engaged to explore the possibility of implementing a GBI program.

Status: Under consideration
Owner: Hennepin County, Cities

Currently, corridor residents have access to a variety of existing programs offering education, skills training, and workforce opportunities. Before, during, and after construction, we will work to ensure the local community has more robust opportunities to access workforce training and new pathways to meaningful employment and financial stability. These include efforts to prepare interested corridor residents for jobs in LRT construction, transit operations and maintenance, and other employment opportunities in the BLE corridor.

1. CONNECT people to anti-displacement efforts.

Focused Navigation & Outreach:

Hennepin County will contract with community-based organizations that operate in the corridor to provide outreach, services and support in partnership with county navigators. Partners will continue to target outreach through county navigators, community-based organizations, and community networks within the corridor as well as invest in marketing to connect people to services. Outreach partners will be trained to connect community members with workforce development programs that can help them prepare for new job opportunities or connect to employers and roles that meet their goals.

Status: In place
Owners: Hennepin County
(Before, during and after construction)

2. PROVIDE employment and training support.

Employment Strategist:

Hennepin County has invested in a new Employment Strategist role to support employment and training programs and wraparound services for corridor members. In partnership with jurisdictions, this role will closely monitor employment trends and community engagement feedback to identify opportunities to target and improve employment and training programs to ensure programs continue to meet the needs of the corridor community.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owners: Hennepin County
(Before, during and after construction)

Leverage Workforce Development & Financial Support Programs:

Using feedback from community engagement and data on employment trends, partners will learn about the unique employment needs for individuals and businesses in the corridor, which will be used to target or adapt existing employment and training programs. Hennepin County will develop tools to identify existing programs supporting the corridor, who is being served, and where there are gaps in services, which will be used to identify where further action is needed and how to target the corridor’s needs.

Status: See section below for programs in place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owners: Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County, Minneapolis
(Before, during and after construction)

3. INCREASE corridor participation in the BLE’s construction and operation.

BLE Training & Hiring:

The BLE will bring new construction, operations, and maintenance jobs to the corridor, which will offer meaningful opportunities for stable employment within the corridor community. The Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County are incorporating opportunities to prepare people for construction, operations, and maintenance roles through employment and training services operating within the corridor. Additionally, they are considering how targeted recruitment and hiring practices could support hiring corridor residents for these roles.

Status: In development, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owners: Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County, Cities
(Before, after and during construction)


Support for residents (renters and homeowners)

Workforce Development & Financial Support Programs

Hennepin County Workforce Development:

Hennepin County supports numerous federal, state, and locally funded employment and training programs that support residents in gaining meaningful, sustainable employment.

Status: In place, federally- and locally-funded programs may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: Hennepin County

Current programs include:

• Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program: (SNAP) Employment and Training: A program with a goal to help people receiving SNAP food benefits gain skills, training, or experience, leading to economic self-sufficiency.

• Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP): A program to help low-income families with children move out of poverty through work opportunities.

• Dislocated Worker Programs: Funded through the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and state resources, these programs are designed to provide people who have become recently unemployed with access to education, training, and support services to reenter the workforce.

• WIOA Adult and Youth Programs: Funded through the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), these programs for unemployed/underemployed adults and youth facing barriers to employment increase jobseekers’ access to employment, education, training, and support services.

• Hennepin GO Pathways: Hennepin County Employment Growth and Opportunity (GO) Pathways Program is a unique and collaborative partnership between employers, educators, and community providers and is a tangible connection for job seekers to meaningful work with livable wages, benefits and growth potential. The GO Pathways solution helps Hennepin County and other employers in the region find qualified candidates and close employment disparities by creating diverse pools of well-trained and high potential applicants.

• Hennepin GO Internships: Hennepin County Employment Growth and Opportunity (GO) offers internships for youth and young adults in over 50 departments at Hennepin County., Internships are designed to provide paid work experience along with career exploration, developmental workshops, networking, and mentoring opportunities. The county also partners with Achieve Twin Cities and the cities of Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, and Brooklyn Park to offer summer internship opportunities.

• Benefits Cliff Pilot Program: Hennepin County is partnering with community-based organizations to implement programs aimed at reducing, and ultimately eliminating, the negative impacts that residents who are receiving, or recently received, public assistance experience from earned income.

• Employment Training for People Exiting Homelessness Program: Hennepin County’s Office of Workforce Development and Housing Stability have partnered with two non-profit organizations to provide low-barrier employment and training services with flexible wrap-around supports to people exiting homelessness. The program supports adults who currently or have recently (within 6 months) experienced homelessness.

• Workforce Development Roster Program: A consortium of 34 non-profit organizations pre-qualified to respond to requests to develop employment and training services for program-specific workforce development needs. The partners are able to efficiently develop services to meet urgent workforce development needs identified within the community.

Minneapolis Workforce Development: Similar to Hennepin County, Minneapolis offers substantial employment and training opportunities for youth and adults, including programs designed to prepare participants for employment with Minneapolis public works, firefighting, and police jobs and substantial career exploration and internship opportunities for youth and young adults.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: Minneapolis

BrookLynk: This youth employment program is a partnership between the cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center dedicated to addressing regional talent and workforce needs by supporting and investing in young people facing barriers to employment.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center

Youth Employment and Training Initiatives: This Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board effort provides youth-focused employment and training opportunities. Opportunities include the Minneapolis Parks Corps and Teen Teamworks, which specifically targets youth from under-represented and/or unserved communities.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP): The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development oversees this program, which provides grants to businesses to develop new job training or retraining programs for workers in order to meet current and future workforce needs of Minnesota businesses. The Low Income Worker Training Program offers up to $200,000 to public, private, and nonprofit entities to help low-income workers gain new skills and move towards greater economic self-sufficiency.

Status: In place, may be eligible for ACPP funding
Owner: State of Minnesota

Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI): Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis have piloted guaranteed basic income programs that are now complete or slated to end in 2024. Both pilots included participants from the BLE corridor. These programs provided direct cash transfer to participants without qualifications on income and employment status (initial eligibility for the county pilot included income and employment guidelines), or requirements for how the funds are spent. These programs improve near-term stability for households, which helps them access employment-based opportunities that provide long-term pathways to wealth creation. Corridor cities, philanthropic or community-based partners will be engaged to explore the possibility of implementing a GBI program.

Status: Under consideration
Owner: Hennepin County, Cities

Page last updated: 27 Sep 2024, 07:51 AM