All about Elevate Hennepin

Elevate Hennepin is a partnership between private industry and government that aims to catalyze an equitable business community with exceptional tools and resources.

The core service of Elevate Hennepin is no-cost consulting from a network of professional advisors. Businesses and entrepreneurs can access up to 25 hours of no-cost guidance and support from these advisors to solve challenges and find opportunity across their business.

Advisors can support with all manner of business fundamentals including:

• Accounting
• Access to capital
• Certification
• Financial management
• Human resources
• Idea stage
• Legal
• Marketing
• Business strategy
• Technology

Elevate Hennepin consultants and advisors can assist with everything from writing your business plan, pulling together financial reports, and helping you apply for capital.

Group-learning opportunities

Elevate also offers group-learning opportunities in it’s CEO Growth Series. This series includes CEO Start for idea-stage entrepreneurs; CEO Now for growing businesses; HR Next to support businesses with human resources (HR) development; and CEO Next to support successful regional companies with challenges of scale.

There are multiple paths to Elevate Hennepin resources for all manner of needs.

Entrepreneurs with a new idea, visit our idea-stage hub of resources. This mentoring opportunity matches entrepreneurs with experts in new ventures and startups. Idea-stage mentors offer 15 hours of specific guidance to founders of new ventures.

Business owners who have an entity recognized by the State of Minnesota (LLC, C-Corp, S-Corp, etc.), can connect directly with Elevate Hennepin advisors.

All owners and entrepreneurs can browse our webinars and events and find all manner of resources in our resource directory.

If you need help selecting the right resource for you and your business or idea, you can schedule 15 minutes with a Business Navigator to help you identify your next steps.

Each Elevate Hennepin advisory client is eligible for 25 hours of support per advisor. Individuals in the idea stage are eligible for 15 hours.

This means you can work with advisors in various areas of support. To take advantage of these hours you must engage with the advisor providing whatever they need to collaborate with you to accomplish your goals.

Aspiring business owners with an idea can take advantage of working with an advisor who specializes in helping you consider your concept and determine viability. They do this by helping you consider your product, customer, pricing, and overall problem you are solving for with the creation of a new business.

Fifteen hours of work with an advisor should help get you to a decision if you want to move forward with your idea. If you decide to move forward, typically registering with the state, you are then eligible to work with our other advisors who offer the other areas of support of up to 25 hours per advisor.

The mission of Elevate Hennepin is to provide best-in-the-nation resources to develop entrepreneurs, support business creation, and help for-profit businesses in Hennepin County grow and thrive. Our advisors were selected to meet the needs of for-profits businesses. However non-profits can be assisted if we have an advisor with the expertise needed if the organization fits the following criteria:

• Has been in operation for at least one (1) year
• Has at least one (1) full-time W2 earning employee
• The non-profit organization is registered and in good standing with the Minnesota Secretary of State

We recommend you connect with a Business Navigator to help identify if you qualify and determine if there is an advisor who can meet your needs.

The way to get the most out of the Elevate Hennepin advisor experience is to have a project in mind or to be able to articulate your business needs during your initial intake meeting with your advisor.

Once you have selected an advisor and complete the intake form you will receive an email with instructions on next steps. The advisor your selected should respond to your request within two business days. If you don’t receive an email with instructions on how to schedule your initial intake meeting with them, please let us know by sending an email to elevate@hennepin.us.

You can expect your advisor to bring their business expertise while you bring your commitment to the business and the project you’ve identified for your no-cost services.

The advisors will provide the guidance while you complete tasks or “assignments” to accomplish the goals jointly identified by you and the expert. Your 25 hours of no-cost services will include meeting time with your advisor and the time the advisor spends working on the project for your business.

This is an offering exclusively for Hennepin County businesses. To be eligible an established business must be located in Hennepin County. If you are in the idea stage, without a registered business, you are limited to 15 hours per idea stage advisors and must be a resident of Hennepin County with plans to establish a Hennepin County based business.

Advisors are required to verify eligibility by looking up the business address on the Hennepin County Property Seach database. If the business hasn’t been established, eligibility is determined by your residential address.

Eligibility is determined by the location of the business when registered with the state not by where you do business or where your clients are located.

If your business is located in Hennepin County, you are eligible to participate in the Elevate Hennepin initiative. If your business is outside of Hennepin County contact your county or city economic development department to determine what programs and services are available.

Hennepin County recognizes that privacy and trust are of upmost importance to you and your business when seeking services through Elevate Hennepin. As an Elevate Hennepin client, you are asked to complete the intake form that requests basic contact information and details about your business if applicable.

In addition you are asked to acknowledgement the parameters of the services provided and a data privacy statement known as a “Tennessen warning” that informs you of your rights and how your information is used.

In accordance with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, some of the information shared through the Elevate Hennepin initiative is considered private, confidential, and/or nonpublic data under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.

Hennepin County is collecting this information to better understand who is using this business support. The county will use the information to demonstrate outcomes and improve business support offered to business owners. Clients are not legally required to provide information and may refuse to complete this intake form, but support cannot be provided under the Elevate Hennepin initiative without it. If the client opts to not provide the requested information, the county may not fund participation in this opportunity.

The following persons or entities may access the information you provide: the county and county employees, participating Hennepin County cities, and any business advisor assigned to the client through the Elevate Hennepin initiative.

All data will be handled in compliance with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Certain information, such as the names and addresses of businesses, may be deemed public information by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, and may be provided to cities that invest in Elevate Hennepin. Client data is not used to determine a business owners’ eligibility for other county services. We may share aggregate information and data that is deemed public information with other county departments and with cities that invest in Elevate Hennepin.

Yes. A business owner with multiple business entities may receive 25 hours of service per legal entity from the same advisor provided the entities are registered businesses located in Hennepin County. Example: Business owner has an interior design consulting business that is a separate legal entity from a home décor retail shop that they also own. They may receive 25 hours from one advisor for their consulting business and another 25 hours for their retail shop as long as both entities are based in Hennepin County.

The business location receiving services must be a Hennepin County location. Elevate Hennepin services cannot be used primarily for an affiliated location outside of Hennepin County. Examples:

• A Hennepin County business with locations in Hennepin and Ramsey County wants to use Elevate Hennepin to develop a new website. This is eligible.
• A business with an office in Hennepin County wants to access Elevate Hennepin services to improve operations at a location in Washington County. This is not eligible.

Elevate Hennepin does not include real estate agents or brokers among our advisor network and Elevate Hennepin does not cover real estate transaction costs a business may incur. Individuals or businesses seeking to buy or sell investment property are not eligible for Elevate Hennepin consulting services.

However, Elevate Hennepin advisors include legal and financial professionals who may provide consulting to help a business owner assess the legal and financial aspects of leasing or buying commercial space where the majority of the building will be used to conduct the day-to-day operations of the owner’s business.