{"id":3693,"date":"2025-06-20T16:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T16:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=3693"},"modified":"2026-07-03T16:42:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:42:40","slug":"north-minneapolis-invests-in-black-wealth-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2025\/06\/20\/north-minneapolis-invests-in-black-wealth-building\/","title":{"rendered":"North Minneapolis invests in Black wealth building"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On KFAI 90.3 FM\u2019s&nbsp;<em>The Conversation with Al McFarlane<\/em>, Warren McLean, President of the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON), shared how Black entrepreneurs are transforming vacant properties into beacons of ownership and wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur mission is to build wealth for low to moderate income entrepreneurs,\u201d said McLean. \u201cOur vision is to transform North Minneapolis into a prosperous, visible, and sustainable multicultural community of entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NEON is doing more than envisioning change; it is building it. McLean highlighted the nearly completed NEON Collective Kitchens, a $21 million commercial kitchen facility next to the Capri Theatre. \u201cForty percent of our clients are in food. When Kindred Kitchen changed its model, our clients had nowhere to cook. We had to fill that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The debt-free facility will include licensed kitchens, four retail food stalls, and training classrooms. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about food. It\u2019s about ownership,\u201d McLean emphasized. \u201cIt\u2019s about making sure our entrepreneurs have access to the same opportunities others do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McLean also spotlighted the Black Developers Fund, which provides early-stage capital to Black developers in North Minneapolis. \u201cThere were about 100 idle properties here. Our developers didn\u2019t have the funds to acquire and improve them,\u201d he said. \u201cNow they do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al McFarlane described the effort as a \u201cseismic shift\u201d in the economic trajectory of the community. McLean agreed. \u201cThis is unprecedented. You\u2019ve got people like Tim Baylor building Satori Village. Houston White is building a mixed-use project in Camden Town. Kenya McKnight Ahad went from being a tenant to owning her building. Tito Wilson&nbsp; is transforming the Fourth Street Saloon into a restaurant. That\u2019s the shift. That\u2019s wealth-building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McLean underscored that this change is intentional. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing developers with vision and purpose. People are no longer asking if we can. They\u2019re saying we are doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He stressed that corporate partnerships are playing a key role. \u201cUS Bank, Target, and Wells Fargo aren\u2019t just writing checks. They\u2019re helping us make calls. They\u2019re creating pitch decks with us. They\u2019re showing up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These partners will speak at NEON\u2019s upcoming Community Conversation on June 25. \u201cWe want people to hear directly from them. Too often, these corporations invest quietly. It\u2019s time the community understands how much they\u2019ve contributed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For McLean, the goal is long-term. \u201cThis isn\u2019t about short-term programs. This is about changing the culture. We\u2019re creating a tipping point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McFarlane nodded. \u201cThe energy is different. We\u2019re not just surviving. We\u2019re building legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the midst of statewide sorrow, North Minneapolis is asserting itself with power and purpose, demonstrating that local leadership, when combined with access to capital and clear vision, can redefine a neighborhood\u2019s future from the inside out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On KFAI 90.3 FM\u2019s&nbsp;The Conversation with Al McFarlane, Warren McLean, President of the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON), shared how Black entrepreneurs are transforming vacant properties into beacons of ownership and wealth. \u201cOur mission is to build wealth for low to moderate income entrepreneurs,\u201d said McLean. \u201cOur vision is to transform North Minneapolis into a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,26],"tags":[1184,2478,2479],"class_list":["post-3693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classifieds","category-community","tag-north-minneapolis","tag-northside-economic-opportunity-network-neon","tag-warren-mclean","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Neon.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3695,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3693\/revisions\/3695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}