By: Taylor Bowden / Assistant News Director

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced Wednesday that it has awarded a $65,000 Launch Minnesota grant to the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation for their use in assisting innovators and entrepreneurs. This is the second grant awarded to this program.

Larry Hosch, Business Development Director of the GSDC and coordinator of its Launch Minnesota hub effort says the GSDC appreciates that DEED has seen the need for and positive results of their grants in the West Central Minnesota Region. He also said these grants are pass-through dollars, going directly to fund valuable training programs that help innovators turn their ideas into reality.

In the past year, these grants helped train nearly 50 entrepreneurs, nine of whom have already raised a combined $180,000 to get their projects off the ground.