New grant for St. Cloud downtown revitalization
St. Cloud's downtown businesses will get a boost from new state funding, which was announced Thursday.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development awarded a $624,000 grant to the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation as part of its Main Street Economic Revitalization programming.
The award, which provides 30% matching grants up to $750,000, was part of the third and final round of the program's funding.
Art Hub: Cream City Tattoo owner launches new resource for artists, businesses
St. Cloud's grant will go toward construction, property renovations, designs and other infrastructure improvements, according to a DEED press release about the funding.
"Main Street businesses are essential to local and regional economic growth," DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said in a release. "Through these grants, DEED is helping support economic revitalization that generates excitement among residents, community leaders and businesses around Minnesota."
More: Spotlight on rising influencers: Nominate St. Cloud's top 5 under 40 professionals
The Main Street Economic Revitalization Grant Program started in 2021 and has provided $80 million in funding across all three rounds, with St. Cloud previously receiving $1.5 million in 2022.
Since the program launched, the grants have helped maintain or create more than 8,700 jobs and increased local tax bases by nearly $369 million, DEED said in the release.
African food: East African with an American twist: New restaurant serves up fusion food in St. Cloud
St. Cloud's newest grant is part of almost $6.2 million awarded to nine organizations throughout the state. Greater Bemidji, Greater Mankato Growth and Little Falls' Initiative Foundation are among the other organizations that received funding.
Applications will open soon for St. Cloud businesses to apply for funding from the grant.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud gets Main Street Economic Revitalization grant
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
26 minutes ago
- New York Post
Hedge fund titan Ken Griffin rips White House over tax bill
Hedge fund titan Ken Griffin ramped up his war of words with the Trump White House on Wednesday, blasting the president's so-called 'Big, Beautiful' tax bill for adding to Uncle Sam's eye-popping $36 trillion debt pile. The 56-year-old CEO of Citadel, who is worth $42 billion according to Forbes, told the business magazine's annual Iconoclast summit in New York City that if the bill passed, the country would 'unquestionably add several trillion dollars' to the US debt. 'There are a lot of question marks as to why we are continuing to restart tax cuts when we have a fiscal deficit that is this big,' Griffin said at the business magazine's annual Iconoclast summit in lower Manhattan Advertisement 4 Griffin warned that the Trump tax bill will only add to America's debt pile. REUTERS 'The United States' fiscal house is not in order,' Griffin added. 'You cannot run deficits of 6 or 7% at full employment after years of growth. That is just fiscally irresponsible.' Analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecasts that there is a $2.4 trillion black hole in the president's flagship tax bill. Griffin, who moved his firm from Chicago to Miami in 2022, likewise warned that the administration should rein in spending and that investors are already worried about America's finances — posing major risks in the bond markets. Advertisement 'US default prices are probably the same as Italy or Greece,' he said, referring to the so-called credit default swap markets where investors can bet on whether someone will fail to pay their bills. The GOP megadonor also took aim at Trump for criticizing Walmart CEO Doug McMillon after he warned of needing to raise prices in response to higher import costs. 'We should not criticize CEOs for being honest, right? And that's all the CEO of Walmart was doing,' he told the audience in lower Manhattan. 'Shame on the administration.' Advertisement The Post has approached the White House for comment. 4 Elon Musk, who has only recently left the Trump administration, has been repeatedly griping about the bill on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. REUTERS More broadly, Griffin lamented the 'uncertainty' that now clouds investment decisions in the US as a result of policies that have 'called into question American exceptionalism.' 'The administration's attempts to use tariffs come at a dear price for the US economy and come at a dear price for the US consumers, who will undoubtedly pay higher prices,' Griffin told the audience at the upmarket Cipriani ballroom on Broadway in lower Manhattan. Advertisement 'Why do we aspire to bring back to the United States jobs that are actually moving out of China into lower-cost jurisdictions? Why are we aspiring to be the nation of the lowest cost and the lowest-paid workforce in the world? That makes no sense to me.' 4 The tariff tiff blew up at the Beverly Hills Hilton where Trump's allies organized a rival VIP welcome party to go up against Griffin's traditional Milken opener. Bloomberg via Getty Images Griffin, who voted for Trump in November's presidential election, has been a staunch critic of his administration's tariff and trade policies since the real estate mogul's second inauguration earlier this year. The row between the two men spilled over at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills last month, where allies of President Trump organized a rival VIP welcome bash to go up against the Citadel supremo's traditional opening reception. Trump unveiled his tariff plans on April 2, which he dubbed Liberation Day, as he sought to renegotiate new trade deals with countries he believed were treating the United States unfairly. 4 Griffin used a Forbes summit to launch a string of broadsides at the Trump administration over its trade and tariff policies. AP The move has since faced a string of legal challenges, with negotiations failing to bear any fruit until now, apart from an agreement with post-Brexit Britain that was announced on May 8. But discussions with the European Union, one of America's largest trading partners, have faltered, as The Post exclusively reported on May 7.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Get-rich-quick schemes, pyramids and ponzis: five signs you're being scammed
Consumers are under a lot of financial strain. The World Economic Forum reports that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting people across the globe. With food and fuel prices rising, it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep financially afloat. On top of that, salaries aren't keeping up with inflation, making it more difficult to save and build wealth. It's during such times of economic difficulty and uncertainty that fraudsters lure unsuspecting consumers into 'get-rich-quick' schemes, offering an avenue to make easy money by investing in a 'lucrative' financial opportunity. Nothing beats the prospect of making easy money, and every now and again there seems to be a 'get-rich-quick' scheme circulating on WhatsApp or on social media that seems legitimate. But it's not. Our research interests centre on financial systems in emerging economies, and we advocate for financial inclusion and empowering marginalised communities through financial literacy and financial planning. We use our academic platform to share our expertise on finance, including common financial traps people should steer clear of. 'Get-rich-quick' schemes are one such trap. They're also sometimes called ponzi or pyramid schemes. The schemes are a form of financial fraud. The people running them take money through deception: the misrepresentation of information and identity. They promise financial benefits that don't exist. You should avoid them because, more often than not, they are bogus and fraudulent business ventures. There have been some massive fraud schemes over the past 30 years. In the early 1990s, MMM Global - one of the world's largest and most notorious ponzi schemes - defrauded up to 40 million people, who lost an estimated $10 billion. Ponzi schemes have since resurfaced in different forms in South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana and several other African countries. There are five tell-tale signs of a 'get-rich-quick' scheme. Watch out for them. Firstly, they offer exaggerated and above-market returns within a short period of time, with the promise of little to no risk. There are two golden rules when it comes to investing. The first is that it takes time to make money. Amassing a small fortune within a short space of time should raise questions about the scheme. The second rule is: the higher the risk, the higher the return. In other words, no investment is risk free or can guarantee significant returns. There is always some risk involved. An investment that promises substantial returns tends to be quite risky, which repels most people with a low appetite for risk. Secondly, new members are constantly recruited to join the scheme. Typically, such schemes are sustained by relying on the investments of new members to pay existing members. Once the number of existing members exceeds new members, the scheme goes 'belly-up'. At best you lose out on the returns you were promised. At worst you lose all the money you've invested. When the scheme collapses, it is almost impossible to recover the money you've lost because you've technically given it to a stranger (remember, the definition of financial fraud encompasses the misrepresentation of identity). Thirdly, there is urgency to join the scheme and no clarity on how the scheme works. This is a classic characteristic of a 'get-rich-quick' scheme. There is usually no clear answer about the nature of the scheme, what it invests in, how it generates its returns or the credentials of the organisation. Legitimate investments are transparent and can provide investors with all the information they need to help them decide whether to invest. Unsurprisingly, a proper check of 'get-rich-quick' schemes will unmask their fraudulent nature. This is why there's always the urgency and coercion to make an immediate financial commitment under the guise of missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rich. Fourthly, the scheme is not registered with or regulated by any recognised authority. Regulatory authorities are important because they monitor the conduct of financial service providers and protect consumers by keeping their best interests in mind. The protection provided by financial regulators also instils confidence in financial systems. 'Get-rich-quick' schemes are not registered and operate outside the framework of regulatory bodies. This makes investors more vulnerable to loss and makes it more difficult to seek legal recourse when the loss occurs. Legitimate investments in South Africa are offered by authorised financial service providers and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. You can search for any authorised financial service provider on the authority's website. Fifthly, they use the testimonies from existing members who've earned big bucks to promote the scheme. At the initial stages, the scheme tends to pay out to those who have invested early, and these members are encouraged to share the news of their wealth (which travels fast and far) to promote the scheme. But this is a tactic used to create the impression that you too can earn returns in the double digits. These schemes are both unsustainable and unethical as one person gets wealthy through someone else being deceived. It's worth repeating that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Wealth comes from a sound investment strategy and decisions made over time. Any promise to 'get rich quick' should be treated with the cynicism it deserves. It will ultimately reveal its fraudulent nature. Recognising the signs of 'get-rich-quick' schemes can save you from unnecessary financial distress. It's always a good idea to do your own investigation before committing your finances into any investment. You can find more information on the various types of scams through the South African Banking Risk Information Centre's website and report them to the South African Fraud Prevention Service. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Bomikazi Zeka, University of Canberra and Abdul Latif Alhassan, University of Cape Town Read more: Cholera: vaccines can stop the spread, but the biggest deterrent is clean water Children's movement affects health and development but research is lacking in Africa: here's why Human organs for transplant: 5 steps Africa must take to improve the supply chain The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Strongwell products to be distributed throughout Europe
BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) — Strongwell, headquartered in Bristol, Virginia, announced on Thursday it has entered an agreement with Module Solutions & Systems AS (MSS) of Norway. The agreement allows MSS to distribute Strongwell's products in Europe, excluding the United Kingdom, according to a news release posted by the City of Bristol, Virginia. 'We are excited to have MSS as our European distribution partner,' Strongwell Vice President of Sales and Engineering David Gibbs said in the release. 'Their experience and presence in the region will allow us to better serve international customers with Strongwell's high-performance, American-made composite products.' Crews to start building baseball field elements inside Bristol Motor Speedway MSS will distribute standard and non-standard FRP products from Strongwell. 'This agreement with Strongwell marks an exciting new chapter for MSS,' MSS Managing Director Morten Alstadsæther said in the release. 'Strongwell's FRP solutions are world-class, and we are proud to offer European customers local access to these proven, high-performance products. Our team is fully committed to supporting clients with technical expertise and responsive service, ensuring the success of every project we're part of.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
