The $100 million grant program intended to help Minnesota small businesses is facing renewed scrutiny after 5 INVESTIGATES identified grant recipients that may not have been eligible for the money.

Lawmakers passed the Minnesota Promise Act in 2023 to support businesses impacted by civil unrest, racial discrimination, and other barriers to funding. The taxpayer-funded grants offer awards of up to $50,000 to eligible recipients.

But a months-long review of public records revealed that several recipients appear to be operating miles outside of eligible neighborhoods, and that other businesses may not be operating at all.

No one has been charged with fraud related to the program. 

One of the eligibility requirements for a Promise Act grant is that a business operate in a qualifying area — neighborhoods designated by the state as having experienced significant civil unrest or economic harm. Those areas include corridors such as Lake Street in Minneapolis.

The new findings related to participants’ eligibility follow a 5 INVESTIGATES report last month that revealed grant money from the Promise Act going to dozens of questionable recipients. At the time, DFL State Senator Bobby Joe Champion, who helped launch the program, said in an interview that “we know there is no fraud in the program.”

State officials have not released the actual grant applications, so 5 INVESTIGATES relied on tax filings, public databases, court records, mortgage documents, parking citations and on-the-ground reporting to verify business locations and activity.

Eligibility Concerns

Paradise Assisted Living received more than $21,000 in Promise Act funds. The business is located in Bloomington, approximately 10 miles outside any eligible neighborhood. 

State records show inspectors visited that home as early as 2022.

5 INVESTIGATES contacted the business multiple times by phone and text and visited both the business location and the owner’s residence in Lakeville. The owner, Abdisalam Ahmed, did not respond to requests for comment.

Another recipient, CCG Cargo, a transportation company that received nearly $11,000, appears to have used an address at a multi-tenant building on Lake Street. 

But the property owner said he could find no record of the company operating there. When contacted by phone, the grant recipient hung up after being asked about the Minnesota Promise grant.

MSCADDE LLC received more than $16,000 despite not being registered with the state for several years. Federal Department of Transportation records show the carrier has been out of service since 2021 for failing to pay a safety-related fine.

The owner did not return multiple calls and texts and did not answer his door.

‘Stop for a Minute’

Rep. Dave Baker, chair of the Minnesota House Jobs Committee, said the findings raise serious concerns about vetting and oversight.

“Governor Walz ought to say, ‘Stop for a minute. Stop any more going out. We have to check into what’s going on.’ There’s no reason why this should not be just immediately suspended,” he said.

Baker, a Republican from Willmar, pressed for answers after 5 INVESTIGATES first uncovered a list of questionable promise grant recipients. 

He said he intends to raise these new findings at a hearing yet this session.

“This should be embarrassing, and it should enrage many taxpayers about how did all this money get out with such low accountability,” he said.

In the Twin Cities region, the applicant review process was handled by the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC), a nonprofit contracted by the state. 

In promotional materials, the organization emphasized that the application process was designed to be simple and accessible, with minimal paperwork.

“This isn’t meant to be a super complicated grant program. So you’re not going to have to write a life story and narrative on why you’re eligible,” an NDC employee said in one YouTube video.

The Neighborhood Development Center declined multiple interview requests. In a written statement, its president emphasized the good that the program has done for businesses and alluded to some tweaks.

“We are applying what we learned from round one to the review of applicants in round two,” said Renay Dossman, NDC’s president and CEO.

Under Review

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the state agency responsible for overseeing the program, also declined interview requests. 5 INVESTIGATES attempted to speak with the agency’s commissioner following a recent public event.

“I need to check with my team,” said Commissioner Matt Varilek, before walking out of the building.

Since that interaction, a DEED spokesperson sent a statement to 5 INVESTIGATES but did not answer any questions about how the businesses in question qualified.

“We take your questions seriously and are currently working closely with our grantee, NDC, to gather additional information,” said Mary Haugen, a DEED spokesperson. 

“We have a strong process in place to mitigate risk, and we continue to refine and strengthen it as we learn. If we were to identify any misuse of funds, we would take immediate and appropriate action with our grantee to recover the funds.”

Following the initial reports in March, DEED submitted its required annual report on the Promise Act program to the Legislature. The report includes a section on fraud and states that “the agency is also bringing on new technologies to add extra layers of investigative tools to confirm the identified and business information of promise grant applicants.”

That disclosure marked the first time DEED mentioned new fraud-detection tools following repeated questions about the program.

With the weather we saw over the weekend, there was a chance of a loon fallout. A Wisconsin bird rescue wrote about what it was seeing over the weekend, and with Minnesotans starting to make the same migration as our state bird, heading north to open up cabins, here’s what to know if you encounter a ‘downed’ loon.

Loon Fallout In Parts Of Wisconsin

The Raptor Education Group posted on Saturday about Wisconsin residents finding loons not in area lakes, but rather on roads or roadsides, after the weather created unfavorable migratory conditions for the aquatic bird.

The area had serious ice and wind damage with the recent ice storm which includes power outages. If a fallout has occurred, it is possible many loons will be found on the ground in wooded areas, yards or roads. It will be important for residents, birders or those interested in wildlife to be aware that loons may be down in that area. If they are on the ground, they will need your help as they cannot walk, nor fly from the ground.”

This has happened before here in Minnesota, and it’s an awful sight, as the common loon wasn’t built for being on land, and to see them struggle can tug at your heartstrings.

If you weren’t aware, this is about the time loons start to migrate back to Central and Northern Minnesota.

What Should You Do If You Encounter A Loon Out Of The Water?

If you find an injured loon, or one that may have been a part of a fallout as they had in Central Wisconsin, the recommendation is to call Minnesota Loon Rescue at 855-552-1500 or the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota at 651-486-9453.

You shouldn’t try to grab the loon or approach it. You can learn more about what to look for with injured loons here. 

In a letter last month urging federal officials to fund research into “long COVID,” U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber revealed he dealt for years with the chronic condition, which can leave patients with debilitating symptoms well after a coronavirus infection.

In a March 9 letter to National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, the northeastern Minnesota Republican said he struggled with symptoms like vertigo, carpal tunnel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, hearing and sight deterioration before a diagnosis of long COVID. But a treatment protocol that followed helped symptoms subside within six weeks, he said.

“I truly believe that this diagnosis and treatment saved my life,” Stauber said.

Now, he’s urging the NIH to continue funding research and trials into long COVID and its potential treatments.

“I stand ready to work with you to address Long COVID and help the millions of Americans who have suffered from this devastating disease,” Stauber wrote.

Stauber’s office declined an interview with the Duluth News Tribune and did not respond to a list of emailed questions about his experience with long COVID and his advocacy for treatment.

The letter represents the most the congressman has shared about his experience with COVID-19, a respiratory virus.

Stauber’s public messaging on the 2020 pandemic largely criticized Democrats’ response, and he has so far refused to answer whether he’s been vaccinated.

Billy Hanlon, a 37-year-old Robbinsdale man who has long COVID and is an advocate for research of the condition, said he applauds Stauber for sending the letter and hopes it prompts others, regardless of political affiliation, to share their experiences.

“We know a letter doesn’t solve a problem,” Hanlon said, “but it does help create momentum and accountability that our community desperately does need.”

There’s no diagnostic test or biomarkers for the diagnosis and, therefore, no path for therapeutics. The Food and Drug Administration has not approved a treatment specifically for long COVID.

But with proper funding into research, Hanlon and others are hopeful that can change.

“My life’s work now is really involved in advocacy and trying to expedite and fast track research to be able to get to answers of, physiologically, what’s happening in the body? How does that lead to FDA-approved treatment so that millions of Americans can get back to their lives that they once recognized and the futures that they once envisioned?” Hanlon said.

In his letter, Stauber called on NIH to continue investing in research through programs like the RECOVER Initiative, which specifically investigates long COVID, or the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, which funds “high-potential, high-impact” research, according to its website.

Last year, the Trump administration cut, but later reversed, some research grants under the RECOVER Initiative. It also cut the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID and Office of Long COVID Research and Practice.

Asked how NIH plans to invest in long COVID research and if Americans could trust the funding will remain stable, NIH, in an emailed statement to the News Tribune, pointed to its RECOVER Initiative, noting it received more than $650 million in congressional funding in 2024.

“The program continues to accept applications for pathobiology studies to advance the understanding of long COVID,” NIH said. “Just last month, the initiative expanded a clinical trial arm, creating new opportunities to participate in long COVID research.”

NIH did not say whether it responded to Stauber’s letter.

President Donald Trump’s proposed 2027 budget request released last week calls for a $5 billion cut, or nearly 11%, in NIH’s budget.

Hanlon hopes disruptions to funding are over and commitments to more funding for long COVID come through.

As noted in Stauber’s letter, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held a roundtable in September on long COVID, so the administration is thinking about the condition, Hanlon said.

But now Hanlon wants action — specifically, boosted and consistent research funding.

“The ones that will suffer when there are these different dynamics that slow down research, the ones that are hit the hardest are the millions of Americans that are depending on rapid progress,” Hanlon said.

In his letter, Stauber said he hoped more treatment options became available.

“I shudder to think of those who are still suffering in silence,” Stauber wrote.