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• <br /> BRIEFING PAPER <br /> HENNEPIN COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM <br /> The Hennepin County Economic Development Consortium is a group <br /> consisting of area chambers of commerce, cities, Hennepin County <br /> government and post secondary education institutions. The group <br /> is working to foster economic growth and to increase the number <br /> of quality jobs for all Hennepin County residents. <br /> The focus will be on: <br /> * helping existing companies to expand in their present <br /> locations; <br /> * assisting high growth potential entrepreneurs; <br /> * responding to companies looking at the metro area from the <br /> outside; and <br /> * establishing a computerized means of sharing information <br /> between economic development groups and coordinating <br /> resources. <br /> The effort started in the fall of 1987 when the Greater <br /> Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce led a group of 15 people to <br /> • review the development efforts in Wichita, Kansas and Denver, <br /> Colorado. After seeing the magnitude of those programs and the <br /> metro-wide approach being taken, the decision was quickly made to <br /> broaden the effort here. <br /> From the beginning, it has been led by Eric Selberg, vice <br /> president and CEO-MN of US West Communications and the current <br /> chair of the Consortium. Hennepin County Commissioners Sam <br /> Sivanich and Mark Andrew participated on the trip to the two <br /> cities, with Sivanich becoming the lead supporter of the effort <br /> from the county. Last August, the "Board of Commissioners voted <br /> $160, 000 in funding for the Consortium during an 18 month <br /> start-up period. The Greater Minneapolis Chamber is providing <br /> staff support. <br /> A two-day planning session was held about a year ago, at which a <br /> mission statement and four goals were identified. From that, an <br /> initial plan was written, which has guided the Consortium to this <br /> point. <br /> One of the first efforts of the Consortium was the Executive Call <br /> . Program last summer, which coordinated 15 chambers of commerce in <br /> a program designed to make personal calls on local manufacturing <br /> companies. The intent was to learn more about their needs, <br />