Strategic Partnerships, SBDC Announce COVID-19 Regional Business Recovery Initiative
Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Division of Strategic Partnerships and the South Central Small Business Development Center have announced initiatives to help regional businesses recover from effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A COVID-19 Regional Business Recovery Initiative, intended to aid individuals, employees and small business owners in facing the future of workforce development in a post-pandemic world, will be based in the Strategic Partnerships Center located at the former “Hubbard Building,” in Old Town Mankato. Community and business partners throughout the region will have access to small business consulting services, open-enrollment and customized training opportunities, advisory groups, community events and assistance in grant applications.
Minnesota State Mankato’s Center for Workforce Professional Education, incorporated under the center for Continuing and Professional Education, will continue to offer expert knowledge and design program offerings under the categories of “people, processes and technology.” Within those categories, programs will be designed that emphasize the importance of strong leadership in navigating change, flexibility in operations and technological capabilities that allow businesses to be more resilient to future outbreaks of the pandemic.
More information is available at myminnesotabusiness.com or by calling Mike Hahn, regional director of the Small Business Development Center, at 507-389-1008.
“We’re pleased to announce these initiatives,” said Bobby Fleischman, Minnesota State Mankato’s vice president for Strategic Business, Education, and Regional Partnerships. “The mission of Strategic Partnerships at the University is to work with the community to deliver opportunities that drive economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship in Mankato, North Mankato and the nine-county region. These programs will do just that in a way that addresses and reflects the current challenges of our world.”
Fleischman said the initiatives build on a long line of Strategic Partnerships accomplishments in the past year through a wide variety of activities, many of which are ongoing.
Strategic Partnerships at Minnesota State Mankato has secured more than 1,300 active partnerships, to include unique partnerships with local school districts, Greater Mankato Growth Inc., and South-Central Cooperative Services.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,297 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 30 colleges and seven universities.
