- Engage Leaders: Filsan Talent Partners, Hudda Ibrahim
- Grow Business: Small Business Relief Grant Recap
- Expand Talent: Join our EPIC 2022 Team!
- Shape Tomorrow:
- Anderson Center Inclusive Leadership Forum
- 2021 and Beyond: Emergency Preparedness Planning Workshop
- Insights and Inspirations: 10 Great Movies to Watch During Women’s History Month
- Other: Great River Regional Library Board Opening
Engage Leaders: Filsan Talent Partners
Greeting from Filsan Talent Partners!
Filsan Talent Partners was founded in 2016 with the goal of connecting potential employees with employers. The company’s mission is to build diverse and inclusive workplace cultures across Minnesota. The ultimate objective is to enable inclusive workplace environments to achieve tangible and measurable business outcomes.
To gain a competitive edge in the evolving global marketplace, Filsan Talent Partners offers a series of training modules related to diversity and inclusion, countering unconscious bias, fostering an inclusive climate, and understanding the Somali culture. Those training sessions help employers attract, recruit, and retain employees of color.
Filsan Talent Partners provides on-the-job training sessions designed for new employees to better understand American work ethics and punctuality. Filsan translates employee handbooks to help employees understand company policies, procedures, and job skill requirements. To prevent imminent conflicts and miscommunication from occurring in the workplace, we train supervisors and managers in ways to bridge communication gaps and offer them the tools to handle the root cause of the problem.
Why Should Employers Partner with Filsan Talent Partners?
Filsan Talent Partners is a unique, local, cultural expert providing recommendations for hiring, recruitment, onboarding, retention, and interviewing.
We act as a cultural ambassador for your company across diverse Central Minnesota communities and beyond. Currently, we are working with manufacturing companies, banking/ credit institutions, school districts, local organizations, and universities.
Filsan Talent Partners is offering two free training sessions to manufacturing companies, local banks, and school districts.
Topic: Understanding the Somali Culture
Key objectives: Participants will be able to
- Learn how different cultures impact communication.
- Gain a better understanding of the specific needs of Somali employees.
- Discover ways to bridge the communication gap.
- Recognize language and communication styles.
- Explore religion, spirituality, and Islamic dietary laws.
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 and Friday, September 17th, 2021
Time: 9:30am – 10:30am
Venue: Virtual (Zoom)
Please register for the free training via <https://www.filsantalentpartners.com/events/> Or send an email to info@filsantalentpartners.com
Thank you,
Hudda Ibrahim,
President and CEO
Filsan Talent Partners
Grow Business
Small Business Relief Grant Recap
In March 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act authorized approximately $2 trillion in federal stimulus funds to combat the coronavirus crisis. A significant program of the CARES Act that provided aid to state and local governments is the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund. The money in this fund was distributed to states, tribal governments, and local governments to cover necessary expenditures related to COVID-19.
Local governments could decide where their allocations were spent. This includes areas such as small business relief, health, education, technology and broadband, unemployment and workforce development, housing assistance and other programs to assist their communities.
Through an application process, greater St. Cloud businesses had the opportunity to apply for funding through their respective County or city that offered small business relief grants. Below is an overview, by County, of distributions received by businesses located in GSDC’s region that experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stearns County
Stearns County received $19,361,975 in CARES Act funding in 2020. Additionally, cities and townships within Stearns County also received their own allocations totaling $10,658,242. CARES funds were allocated to small businesses, schools, large non-profits, induvial/families, internal projects, healthcare system assistance.
Of the total CARES Act funding received by Stearns County, over $10.5 million of the $19.3 million was spent out in the community on businesses, non-profits, schools, individual/families, and the healthcare system.
Benton County
In 2020, Benton County received $4,905,923 from the State of Minnesota in CARES Act funding. Benton Economic Partnership, Inc. administered $1,068,374.40 in CARES Grants to 61 businesses on behalf of Benton County, and $20,000 to 10 businesses on behalf of the City of Foley. Together, totaling $1,088,374.40 representing approximately 22% of the county’s total allocation of CARES Act Funding.
In 2021, Benton Economic Partnership, Inc. administered $787,399.62 in Business Relief grants to 43 businesses and non-profits on behalf of Benton County.
Sherburne County
Sherburne County offered three business relief programs: CARES Grants, Business Relief Fund and Community Non-Profit Support Group Fund.
Of the total $7,750,077 Sherburne County relief payments, 59 business located in St. Cloud, Clear Lake, Becker, and Waite Park received $1,894,563. Below is a further breakdown of the funds allocated to businesses located in the three cities through the respective programs.
- CARES Grant = $672,250
- Schools & Non-Profits CARES Community Support Grant = $802,047
- State Business Relief = $420,266
Expand Talent
Join our EPIC 2022 Team – Cluster Leaders Forming Now
Join in Supporting Career Exploration for YOUR Future Workforce
Exploring Potential Interests and Careers (EPIC) is a Hands-On Career Exploration Event supported through community-wide collaboration.
EPIC’s goal is to create an annual high-quality career exploration event that effectively bridges education and industry for high school students in Central Minnesota, contributing to the fulfillment of the economic and workforce needs of the greater Central MN region.
- Through two events, EPIC has impacted the lives of over 4,500 area 10th grade students from 29 area schools.
- 100+ local employers have contributed to career exploration for students through the creation of hands–on activities showcasing their industry.
- Over 350 individuals have volunteered to create this experience for our community’s future workforce!
We are now engaging partners to join in preparation for EPIC2022 – Bigger, Better and Broader – to be held on February 25, 2022, at St. Cloud Technical and Community College. Career Cluster leaders and EPIC Board Members are forming their teams now.
Thank you to many GSDC Investors and community partners for helping lead this critical work.
Will you join the team?
Contact a board member or cluster leader to help provide career exploration for our future workforce!
| EPIC 2022 Board Members | |||
| Name | Employer | Cluster Liaison | |
| Ken Matthews | SCTCC – event facilitator | Kenneth.matthews@sctcc.edu | |
| Susan Jordahl | SCTCC – event facilitator | Ag/Food and Nat Resources | Susan.jordahl@sctcc.edu |
| Amy Trombley | UW/PFSS | Government and Pub Administration | atrombley@unitedwayhelps.org |
| Gail Cruikshank | GSDC – event facilitator | Transportation and Hospitality and Tourism | gcruikshank@greaterstcloud.com |
| Mary Swingle | Boys and Girls Club | Human Services | mswingle@bgcmn.org |
| Tammy Biery | Career Solutions | Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Sec | tammy.biery@Csjobs.org |
| Leah Sams | District 742 | Information Technology | leah.sams@isd742.org |
| Karl Nohner | District 47 | Arts, Audio/Video Tech/Communications | karl.nohner@isd47.org |
| Brent Bultema | Centra Care | Health Science | brent.bultema@centracare.com |
| Mike Gohman | W Gohman Construction | Architecture and Construction | mike@wgohman.com |
| Michelle Schmitz | SCSU | Marketing, Sales and Service | maschmitz@stcloudstate.edu |
| Paul Radeke | BergenKDV | Business, Management, Adm and Finance | pradeke@kdv.com |
| Duane Bryngelson | Park Industries | Manufacturing/STEM | dbryngelson@parkindustries.com |
| Brenda Steve | Sartell- St. Stephen Schools | Education and Training | Brendasteve46@gmail.com |
| EPIC 2022 Cluster Leaders | |||
| Name | Employer | Cluster Area | |
| Jenny Musech | PCI | Business, Management, Adm and Finance | JMMU@preferredcredit.com
|
| Susan Block | Performance Foods | Marketing, Sales and Service | susan.block@pfgc.com
|
| Julie Lunning | Convention and Visitors Bureau | Hospitality and Tourism | julie@visitstcloud.com |
| Judy Barka | Ag Centric | Agriculture, Food and NR | Judy.barka@clcmn.edu |
| Cory Zimpel | SRR Schools | Arts, Audio/Video Tech and Comm | Cory.zimpel@isd47.org |
| Renee Theisen | Geo-Comm | Information Technology | rtheisen@geo-comm.com |
| Georgia McCann | Anderson Trucking Serv | Transp, Distribution and Logistics | georgiam@ats-inc.com |
| Luke Vossen | CWMF | Manufacturing/ STEM | lvossen@cwmfcorp.com |
| Kurt Scepaniak | Horizon Roofing | Architecture and Construction | kurt@horizonroofinginc.com |
| Taylor Sellnow | Horizon Roofing | Architecture and Construction | Taylor.s@horizonroofing.com |
| Tim Johnson | Centra Care | Health Sciences | timothy.johnson@centracare.com |
| Hailey Olson | SCSU | Health Sciences | Haolson@stcloudstate.edu
|
| Geri Bechtold | Boys and Girls Club | Human Services | gbechtold@bgcmn.org |
| Michelle Wang | Resource Training and Solutions | Education and Training | mwang@resourcecoop-mn.gov |
| Anna Gruber | City of Sartell | Government and Public Adm | Anna.gruber@sartellmn.com |
| Angie Dahle | Career Solutions | Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security | Angie.Dahle@csjobs.org |
Like and follow EPIC on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/EPICMN
Shape Tomorrow
Anderson Center Inclusive Leadership Forum on April 22
The Anderson Center is offering an Inclusive Leadership Forum, built around FranklinCovey’s Unconscious Bias: Understanding Bias to Unleash Potential. In this one-day forum, participants will explore bias. As all seek to understand bias, it can be addressed to create a culture in which everyone thrives.
In order to create a culture in which everyone thrives, we must:
- Identify bias where it shows up in our own thinking and in our workplaces.
- Cultivate connection with those around us to expand our understanding and improve our decision-making.
- Choose courage as we engage with care and boldness in addressing biases that limit people and constrain performance.
Discussion Leaders: Hudda Ibrahim, President, Filsan Talent Partners, and Cori Power, Learning and Development Manager, BerganKDV
Registration is now open! Learn more about the forum.
2021 and Beyond: Emergency Preparedness Planning Workshop
As companies look to the future of a hybrid work environment and providing a safe workplace for all employees, they need to consider more than cybersecurity and ergonomics.
This working workshop will start with a presentation from Kelly Sayre, Founder and President of The Diamond Arrow Group and Melinda Gau, Attorney at Law, Quinlivan & Hughes, PA. The presentation will be an overview of considerations for updating an emergency preparedness plan, including the topic of domestic violence, and the current legal considerations for employers in Minnesota.
Learn more information and sign-up.
Insights and Inspirations: Women’s History Month – 10 Great Movies to Watch During Women’s History Month
March is almost over but the opportunity to learn and engage with Women’s History is ongoing. Here are 10 movies to watch today.
Great River Regional Library Board Opening
Stearns County is looking for a District 1 representative to serve on the Great River Regional Library Board. (here’s a map)
The board meets a minimum of six times per year at 6 p.m. at the St. Cloud Public Library (currently via Zoom) to provide direction and vision for the library system.
Terms are three (3) years and term limits are three full terms, or nine (9) years total. This particular county position is for the remainder of 2021, with the term expiring December 31, 2021. Since the appointed person would complete the third year of the prior representative’s 3-year term; he or she would be eligible for reappointment to another 3-year term.
If you are interested in serving on this board, please visit the Stearns County website: https://www.stearnscountymn.gov/914/Vacancies.
You can also find more information, including a Board-approved member job description, by visiting: https://griver.org/board-of-trustees.
Contact Our Staff Team
Patti Gartland, President
pgartland@greaterstcloud.com | 320-260-2442
Leslie Dingmann, Business Development Director
ldingmann@greaterstcloud.com | 320-493-9003
Larry Hosch, Business Development Director
lhosch@greaterstcloud.com | 320-761-4570
Gail Cruikshank, Talent Director
gcruikshank@greaterstcloud.com | 320-260-6775
Amelia Barkley, Communications & Program Specialist
abarkley@greaterstcloud.com | 320-292-9296