Minneapolis small businesses look toward recovery after ICE surge

NINA MOINI: As the federal surge winds down, businesses are figuring out what's next. Minneapolis officials released preliminary estimates last Friday, showing in one month alone, restaurants, and small businesses across the city saw $81 million in lost revenue as a result of the operation. Businesses on Eat Street in Minneapolis were among the many impacted in recent weeks. The business corridor became a site of confrontations and protests in the wake of the killing of Alex Pretti.

The Whittier Alliance has been working to support places on Eat Street and in the wider neighborhood during the surge. Anna Schmitz heads the organization and joins me now to talk more about what she's seeing and what lies ahead. Thank you for your time this afternoon, Anna.

ANNA SCHMITZ: Hi, thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: I know it's only been a few days since the announcement of this drawdown, but we were wondering how the businesses are doing that you work with, what you were seeing this weekend. The temperatures were nice. The sun was shining. What are you seeing on the ground?

ANNA SCHMITZ: Sure, yeah, absolutely. The sun being out, it gives some hope for spring. Well, I think that folks are feeling cautiously optimistic about the surge ending. I don't think it's quite over yet, but that things will be wrapping up soon. But I think that the feeling we have now is that there is a long road to recovery, that small businesses along Eat Street and across Minneapolis, across Whittier, have been really deeply impacted by this surge and are now looking to the community to come back to eat at their restaurants, to shop at their vintage stores, to bring back the kind of life and vitality to Eat Street as we're hoping to welcome folks back in.

NINA MOINI: And for folks who may not be familiar with Eat Street and just the neighborhood in that area, tell me about what it's usually like and just the diversity of the businesses and the types of food.

ANNA SCHMITZ: Yeah, absolutely. So Eat Street is a remarkable corridor in Minneapolis. So we're talking about Nicollet Avenue for folks who don't know.

And the stretch that was really most has been most deeply impacted by Alex Pretti's killing is a really diverse, vibrant corridor that has a large number of immigrant-owned restaurants and small businesses that has Lou's Sandwiches, Meet Up Noodle, that has Black Forest Inn and Glam Doll, b. Resale. These are just all off the top of my head, My Huong Kitchen down the street, just a wide array of that, I think, is a really beautiful example of what we gain from diversity, what we gain from welcoming immigrant communities into the city, of having this kind of incredible range of experiences and things to try and enjoy and people to meet in the city. I think it's really a beautiful microcosm of that.

NINA MOINI: And during this time, the last two or so months, almost three months, some of these businesses have made adjustments, correct? I mean, we've all talked about it at length, but just reviewing for people who don't see this area very often, people were scaling back hours. Were businesses closing? I'm curious to if you have a sense for how or when these businesses might go back to normal operations, as in before? This happened, and before, perhaps some of their employees were in fear of leaving their homes, or patrons were in fear of coming out to dine or to be patrons at these establishments.

ANNA SCHMITZ: Yeah, absolutely. So I think that's really going to be case by case for a lot of the businesses along this corridor and in Whittier as a whole, although I want to emphasize that the businesses are almost uniformly open. So if you're looking for a place to grab a bite to eat or go out or do some shopping, places are open along Eat Street and they are excited to see you and to welcome you there. And lots of folks have been stopping by the memorial to pay their respects and stopping by businesses along the corridor while they're there.

But I think, yeah, it might take a while for folks to get back to where they were. And I think there's been a dual impact in that businesses were impacted by ICE, by employees needing to stay home, by patrons staying home, like you mentioned. And simultaneously, small businesses along this corridor and across the city were showing up in really remarkable ways for their community at the same time, even as they were being impacted.

So we had so many businesses who were doing donation drives, who were offering free community meals. Pho 79 offered a free community meal. Copper Hen opened its doors right after Alex Pretti's killing to folks who were there who needed medical attention. The guys at Bro Bros Closet, a vintage store, collected a donation drive for Whittier Elementary and showed up at our office with a literal moving truck filled with supplies. So they, even while impacted, have been doing so much work, putting so much love and time and expense, frankly, back into their community, which I think has been really remarkable and is just another reason why I'm really hoping that folks will show up for them now.

NINA MOINI: So remarkable all the different stories that we hear of neighbors showing up for neighbors, small businesses in particular, who you mentioned are both impacted and at the front of trying to make a difference and keep everybody operating. It's remarkable to see. You started an effort called Show Up for Eat Street to get people to support businesses on Eat Street. And again, a lot of these just really hyperlocal helping neighbors, grassroots types of efforts that have popped up. We know that that support is there.

As I'm sure you know, the state legislative session begins tomorrow. What are you thinking will be the most helpful approach for small businesses in Minneapolis and surrounding communities from that state level as we enter into the session tomorrow? What are you going to be looking for?

ANNA SCHMITZ: Yeah, well, that Governor Walz has proposed this $10 million small business package. I think that's a great start. I think that I don't know that we even really know the full scale of impact that this surge will have had on small businesses across the state, not just in Minneapolis.

And so I hope that legislators, as they're moving into session on both sides of the aisle, are thinking about how important these businesses are to the fabric of our community and are thinking of ways that they can support that $10 million package, but also maybe build on it and increase that. Think of other ways to support the small businesses that are really in need of that and that do so much for our community, so where you mentioned the Show Up for Eat Street campaign, and that's at www.showupforeatstreet.com if folks want to visit and make a contribution. And I would particularly-- we're seeing that as a bridge, I think, until we get some of that maybe state money, government money flowing.

But for folks who are able to move a little bit more quickly, kind at the individual level, if they're able to contribute, or I think this would be a great place to see larger businesses, larger corporations showing up in support of the business community. That's something that I would love to see a Target, a 3M say, you know what, as members of the business community, we're going to show up for our smaller communities. We're going to make a big contribution. That would be really wonderful to see.

NINA MOINI: All right, Anna, thank you so much for stopping by Minnesota Now and telling us about these efforts. Really appreciate you.

ANNA SCHMITZ: Absolutely. Thank you. Take care.

NINA MOINI: That's Anna Schmitz, executive director of the Whittier Alliance.