Fall 2023
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Blaine Police Department Reminds Businesses to Stay Vigilant Against Crime as the Holidays Approach As the holidays draw near, the Blaine Police Department wants to remind businesses of ways they can combat scams that harm their business and members of the public. 1. Be cautious when accepting payments via check – Blaine Police Department continues to receive reports of fraudulent checks. 2. Ask for identification when someone is purchasing a large volume of gift cards and paying with a credit card. Gift cards are one of the most common items purchased with stolen credit cards. 3. Be cautious of quick-change scams. In these situations, scammers often try to buy a low-cost item like gum or a soda and pay with a large bill. They will then try to pay with a smaller bill and/or ask the cashier a series of questions to distract them. They look for young and/or inexperienced cashiers and target establishments including fast food restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, and pharmacies. If you believe that you have been a victim of a scam please call the Blaine Police Department to file a police report at 763-785-6168 or by calling 911.
Blaine Business Council Do you want to connect with other Blaine businesses and hear about updates in the community? The Blaine Business Council is open to all Blaine businesses and is held quarterly at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. The meetings start at 7:30AM, no RSVP is necessary and we hope you can attend. 2024 Blaine Business Council Dates January 25 | April 25 July 11 | October 24 For more information, visit the MetroNorth Chamber of Commerce at MetroNorthChamber.org.
Development Questions? Your Most Frequently Asked Development Questions Answered How do businesses decide to locate in Blaine? A decision to move to a particular location is often based on market factors. Currently Blaine is an attractive market to many businesses due to its growing population, the incomes of our residents, and our great access to major roadways like Highway 65 and Interstate 35W. However, Blaine has some market challenges as well. The biggest challenges we see in Blaine are high rental rates on retail space, low vacancy rates on industrial spaces under 20,000 square feet, and a shift from large box retailers to smaller boutique retailers and restaurants.
Why is Blaine seeing so many national chains? What about sit down restaurants? Due to high interest rates and increased building costs, the cost of retail space across the metro has increased in some instances to over $50 per square foot for space in a new building. In Blaine, we have seen rental rates as high as $40 per square foot. As the cost of space in new buildings has increased, so has the cost of space in existing buildings due to increased demand and increased cost of maintenance and utilities. With that, national chains are better positioned to pay higher rental rates than are a small locally owned sit-down restaurant, boutique retailers, or a small chain owned by a local restaurateur. Restaurants are also facing challenges of rising labor and food costs. With their three major expenses increasing, food, labor, and rent, small locally owned restaurants and restaurant chains are finding it increasingly challenging to find space that fits their brand and budget to expand or move into a new space. Blaine also severely lacks available second generation, turnkey restaurant space. This primarily impacts entrepreneurs trying to open their first or second restaurant location and smaller scale restaurateurs. Due to the high cost of commercial kitchen equipment, second generation space is highly sought after by individuals looking to start their own restaurant.
What has the City done to attract businesses that residents want to see here? Over the last two years, Blaine’s economic development staff has worked to identify businesses for attraction, with a strategic focus on restaurants, sit down and fast casual, unique retail including high-end grocers, and experiential retail. City staff has reached out to over 75 businesses across the US to attract them to Blaine and the overall response has been positive. Over 20 percent of the businesses contacted have sat down for a meeting with the City to talk about the potential for expansion and determine whether Blaine is a good fit for their business. In addition, city staff has been working to share the vision of Blaine with local developers and commercial real estate brokers, each of whom have a list of businesses they’ve targeted and attracted to other projects across the country. The decision for a business to expand does not happen overnight. City staff continues to develop relationships with these businesses and keep them up to date on city happenings and development so that when they are ready, Blaine is a top choice. The City has also expanded its Small Business Loan program to allow businesses to utilize funds for capital expenditures in existing spaces and updates that prevent blight. In addition, Blaine works closely with Anoka County Open to Business to provide counseling and technical assistance to local entrepreneurs looking to start or grow their business. If you have more questions or are looking for more information on business attraction in Blaine, reach out to Blaine’s economic development staff at 763-717-2778 or email RTucker@BlaineMN.gov. Resources and information are also available on the City’s website under Business and Development at BlaineBiz.com or under the Planning sections at BlaineMN.gov/Planning.
CareerForce Holds Workforce Wednesday Events Each Month Many businesses across all sectors of industry are facing workforce related challenges. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Workforce Strategy Consultant team offers business assistance on the first Wednesday of the month from 11AM to Noon. This series of virtual meetings focuses on highlighting proven strategies to build talent pipelines, hearing and sharing best practices, and networking with other Minnesota employers about all things workforce. Workforce Wednesday covers topics that teach employers how to increase their number of applicants and new hires, provides tools for reviewing and enhancing their current training programs, teaches methods to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the workplace, 3 and guides businesses on how to be recognized as an employer of choice in their industry.
Topics for 2023 Workforce Wednesday November 1: Navigating the International Hiring Process December 6: Still Utilizing Passive Recruiting Strategies? Why Active Recruiting is Now Essential Your business can register for upcoming sessions, view recordings of past sessions and download related resources and more at CareerForceMN.com/ WorkforceWednesday.
