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PAGE D8•STAR'UNE • SUN13r ,MARCH 3.2002
<br /> BUSINESS FORUM INFORMATION
<br /> FEEDBACK:To submit a Forum commentary or a letter to the editor,call 612-673-9071 or fax Business Forum Editor John Oslund at 612-673-7122,or e-mail him at oslund@startribune.com.
<br /> Business leaders finally are making the link between affordable
<br /> housing and a competitive Minnesota economy.
<br /> We must press ahead on this issue, despite these trying times.
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<br /> Building momentum
<br /> By Chuck Slocum new exhibit at the 2001 Minne- — „ ,,,. ,., additional resources from the is disagreement on one impor-
<br /> sota State Fair called"Monop- ' -•'y�. The author public and private sectors will tent point: Businesspeople
<br /> ust as education re- oly:A Play for Affordable Hous- i be necessary. want a plan, complete with
<br /> y Chuck Slocum is president of the Williston Group,a
<br /> form(1980s) and men- ing." > An effective safety net for problem definition, verifiable
<br /> • •!t management-consulting organization.Long active
<br /> toying (1990s) became Thousands of fairgoers those who are homeless,or on facts, cost parameters, priori-
<br /> the
<br /> with important causes for played a life-sized version of ._;'�• '_ in civic affairs,Slocum consults with HousingMin
<br /> P p y nesota,a business backed organization that's con- the verge of becoming home- ties and accountability meas-
<br /> responsive and con- the popular game,raising more ,_ "_ ; less,be put in place. urements.
<br /> .t. cerned about the quantity and quality of housing
<br /> cerned Minnesota than $250,000 in donations. ),- Hard-to-come-by finan- The nonpartisan vision
<br /> available for workers in Minnesota.His e-mail is
<br /> businesses in recent decades, More than 80 percent of Min- � cial support must be provided must,over time,assure that the
<br /> cslocum@willistongroup.com.com.
<br /> housing will be a part of the nesota business owners and first to lower income workers right things happen.Most pro-
<br /> current decade's policy push. operators interviewed in a pri- Chuck Slocum in need of housing. fessional advocates, many of
<br /> It is unlikely that a long- vate survey said they were con- > Repair and rehabilitation whom have spent years in the
<br /> term,effective solution can be cerned about the ability of - of existing housing is an im- movement and have climbed
<br /> crafted without the active lead- their employees to find hous- portant part of the solution. considerably further up the
<br /> ership of the state's private em- ing. tists have long agreed that little > Builders and developers > The development of pri- housing mountain,believe that
<br /> ployers, whose firms provide For the past several years, progress can be made on any deserve to make a reasonable vate, nonprofit community it is time to move ahead with-
<br /> the vast majority of jobs. an innovative matching grant front—improved literacy,job profit. land trusts will help contain out further study.
<br /> Undeniably, there is a sig- program administered by the training,unwanted pregnancy, > Low interest rates on the costs of land on which af- A fast-track housing plan,
<br /> nificant housing challenge, as Minnesota Housing Finance crime prevention, chronic dis- home mortgages and the newly fordable homes can be devel- including a full and fair public
<br /> Doug Strandness, chairman of Agency has established finan- ease, mental health, domestic adopted property tax reduc- oped. , debate during the 2002 elec-
<br /> the Minnesota Multi Housing cial partnerships with dozens violence,addictive drug use— tions should stimulate afford- > Desity-zoning require- tion campaign,could go a long
<br /> Association,pointed out in his of employers investing money without a safe place in which to able housing, particularly for ments should be eased so that way toward meeting the needs
<br /> recent article ("Keys to more to create housing for their live. much needed apartments. community housing develop- of some 300,000 families whose
<br /> affordable housing" in last workers. In a HousingMinnesota- Last November, 100 busi- ments include a portion of important work as service pro-
<br /> Sunday's Business Forum). Still, the housing challenge sponsored letter to Gov. Jesse ness leaders and hundreds of units that are affordable for viders, teachers, bank tellers,
<br /> The independent Minneso- must be better defined and the Ventura and state policymak- others as delegates attended lower-income workers, allow- farmers, health care profes-
<br /> ta Legislative Auditor conclud- financial implications more ers in January,former Gov. El- the first Minnesota Housing ing them and their families to sionals,food and factory work-
<br /> ed in a widely discussed report widely understood even as the mer L. Andersen urged law- Convention in St. Paul. Ideas live in neighborhoods near ers, and retail sales clerks can
<br /> a year ago that one in five of state experiences its first seri- makers "to consider the long- that most business leaders at their jobs. be best sustained through a de-
<br /> our state's residents lack con- ous economic slowdown in term impact of failing to prog- the convention shared with cent, affordable place to call
<br /> venient, affordable housing, two decades. ress on this important issue." housing advocates include the Fast-track plan needed home.
<br /> defined as a home that costs a HousingMinnesota (http:// Individual businesses have following:
<br /> family no more than 30 percent www.housingminnesota.org) long understood the relation- > The marketplace alone is As business leaders join
<br /> of household income before is a three-year-old statewide ship between recruitment and not sufficient to solve all the af- others to advocate for neces-
<br /> taxes and deductions. campaign sponsored by 110 retention of productive work- fordable housing needs and sary affordable housing, there
<br /> Surveys by the Metropolitan organizations. The group esti- ers and the availability of hous-
<br /> Council and others show that mates that during this decade ing. Organizationally, there is
<br /> the public now views housing Minnesota must invest more increasing momentum within
<br /> as a"top four"issue,along with from all sources—private and the business community.
<br /> the economy, education and public—to meet the growing HousingMinnesota's decision
<br /> public safety. New Mayors needs for housing of the state's to create the Committee on
<br /> Randy Kelly of St.Paul and R.T. lower income workers and its Workforce Housing attracted
<br /> Rybak of Minneapolis, whose most economically vulnerable 350 employers and business
<br /> campaigns were dominated by citizens, 40 percent of whom leaders who seek to address
<br /> housing issues, already have are children. what some call the nation's
<br /> begun to outline ambitious There is a direct economic most complicated and costly
<br /> plans to secure thousands of payback to communities challenge.
<br /> lower-priced rental units and whose housing stock is a result Most business people share
<br /> homes in their cities. A select of such investments:For every a perspective that emphasizes
<br /> Mayor's Task Force represent- $10 million in housing subsidy, that:
<br /> ing various suburban commu- there are an estimated 2,676 > Affordable housing can
<br /> nities has presented an array of new jobs and $69 million in be framed as an economic as
<br /> affordable housing ideas to the wages paid. The Twin Cities- well as a social concern.
<br /> Legislature. based Family Housing Fund 1> The current system ;e
<br /> also determined that the lack works well for 80 percent of the
<br /> Business interests of affordable housing resulted state's population. •,;
<br /> in $137 million in lost annual > Minnesotans have a 75 ;;r
<br /> income to area businesses be- percent homeownership rate
<br /> There is ample evidence of cause prospective workers can —the highest in the nation.
<br /> businesses'growing interest in not find adequate housing. > The private housing
<br /> housing. Slumberland, Bach- Indirect benefits also will market could do much more if
<br /> man's, Target and two dozen result from the creation of af- given regulatory relief and in-
<br /> other companies sponsored a fordable housing.Social scien- centives.
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