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2024 highlights from Elevate Hennepin

A collage of business owners who used Elevate Hennepin for free business consulting, group learning, or essential resources.

2024 highlights from Elevate Hennepin

Elevate Hennepin has provided transformational impact for businesses of all sizes through no-cost consulting, a growing foundation of group learning, and a curated hub of vital resources enabling small businesses to start, grow and scale.

Hennepin County Administrator David Hough on the impact of Elevate Hennepin.

The past year was an exceptional one for Elevate Hennepin with new resources, thousands of hours of support for businesses from more than 30 consultants, and another successful year for the growing CEO Growth Series of group-learning opportunities.

Over the past several years, we have provided: 

  • Expert consultants, serving over 1,200 entrepreneurs in 2024: Since inception in 2020, Elevate Hennepin advisors have supported more than 3,600 businesses with 41,000 hours of consulting. 
  • Peer-to-peer connection to help businesses expand both locally and regionally: In 2024, 40 new businesses graduated from the new CEO Start group-learning opportunity and 30 businesses graduated from our CEO Now program. A further 24 connected and worked through our longstanding CEO Next cohort, expanding the economic impact in the county and beyond.
  • Community-lead programming: Based on community need, Elevate Hennepin staff piloted 10 new offerings including HR Next, customized HR support to attract and retain employees; CEO Start, fundamental training to help idea-stage entrepreneurs launch and grow; and CEO Now, strategic frameworks for growth-oriented businesses. 
  • More capacity for job creation: Advisors and consultants provided guidance and support for businesses to add more than 600 jobs in Hennepin County through financing since inception, and 283 new jobs in 2024 alone.
  • Equitable access to capital: Advisors helped Hennepin County businesses secure over $35.8 million in capital to expand, start, or grow their businesses. Last year alone, Elevate Hennepin business owners secured $16.3 million in business financing.
  • A launchpad for new businesses: Advisors provided guidance for more than 220 business across the county to launch. In 2024, 51 Elevate Hennepin businesses said this support helped them launch their new venture.

As we look to 2025:

  • We will continue to deliver transformative resources to develop thriving, resilient business by adding new advisors, programs, areas of support, and vetted resources to take businesses to the next step.
  • We will help Hennepin County businesses plan and mitigate economic and environmental disruptions by helping them access capital through a partnership with NextStage in new programming that will be officially announced in early 2025.
  • We will continue to actively dismantle obstacles that limit historically excluded communities from starting their businesses and offer programs that fill gaps in human resources, certification, and idea-stage exploration.
  • We will continue to build our entrepreneurial community by telling your stories to inspire and provide visibility.

Custom support, incredible results

Watch how Elevate Hennepin provided support to four very different businesses last year, and how all Hennepin County residents can do the same. 

 

Share this story with someone in your network that could use Elevate Hennepin support, and subscribe to the biweekly newsletter to keep up with the initiative. 

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Real businesses, real stories.

Soren Aster, founder of The Clay Pit

The Clay Pit builds community with Elevate Hennepin guidance

When Soren Aster saw a pottery studio open up, they leaned on Elevate Hennepin for support to finance and lease what would become The Clay Pit. 
A collage of business owners who used Elevate Hennepin for free business consulting, group learning, or essential resources.

2024 highlights from Elevate Hennepin

In 2024, Elevate Hennepin continued to provide transformational impact for businesses of all sizes all across Hennepin County.