The Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) is an expansion and strengthening of the existing “entrepreneur development system” in North Minneapolis.  NEON is led by the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) and the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council (NRRC) together with several other stakeholders including: Emerge; West Broadway Business and Area Coalition; Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers; Pieces, Inc.; Twin Cities Rise!; Minneapolis Empowerment Zone; and NorthWay Community Trust.

Begun in late 2006, NEON expands existing efforts to develop new businesses with neighborhood residents on the Northside by bringing together the resources of each of the organizations listed above.  NEON's goals are to train residents to be entrepreneurs and place new or expanded businesses on West Broadway or other visible commercial locations on the Northside.

 
The NEON entrepreneur development system has four components: 1) a neighborhood-based recruitment strategy that identifies neighborhood residents to be participants in entrepreneur training classes held throughout the Northside; 2) business development assistance including development of business plans; 3) financing and technical support; and, 4) physical business siting on the Northside and continued follow-up support.  As new businesses are launched, support and assistance on all aspects of new business start-up and expansion are made available over a sustained period. 

This activity is not new to Minneapolis' Northside.  Many of the NEON partners have been collaborating for the past decade to produce steady, solid results.  However, the pace of business development and expansion has not been sufficient to create a “tipping point” for North Minneapolis.  Further, many of the businesses supported to date have not created a visible presence on West Broadway or other commercial nodes.  NEON is doubling the efforts of our collaborative partners from previous years.  NEON will create and expand more businesses, doing so more efficiently than in years past, and leveraging significant capital investments along the way. With renewed investment in the Northside, entrepreneur development efforts, focused on visible change on the Northside’s commercial corridors, will create the kind of catalytic change desired by residents, businesses, and others.