BUSINESS & WORK Archives — Sahan Journal

A nonprofit newsroom dedicated to reporting for Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color.

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BUSINESS & WORK

Marijuana advocates urge Gov. Walz to appoint local entrepreneur, scientist as state’s cannabis czar

by Joey Peters 23 hours agoSeptember 29, 2023

Some marijuana advocates and insiders want Clemon Dabney to lead the state’s new Office of Cannabis Management.

BUSINESS & WORK

Minneapolis council members revive effort to pass rideshare ordinances after defeat

by Alfonzo Galvan September 21, 2023September 22, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Minneapolis workers from across industries call on city to establish labor standards board

by Alfonzo Galvan September 21, 2023September 22, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Lake Street businesses prepare for Mexican Independence Day celebration

by Alfonzo Galvan September 15, 2023September 15, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Your Minnesota rebate check is coming from Montana. What to look out for when it comes in the mail.

by Gustav DeMars September 11, 2023September 12, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Cultural Destinations booth at Minnesota State Fair connects diverse businesses to wider audience

by Alfonzo Galvan August 31, 2023September 1, 2023

Explore Latino businesses at the Minnesota State Fair

by Nicole Johnson August 31, 2023August 31, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Social worker Lamar Hill draws from experience as a biracial foster child

by Andrew Muthoni August 31, 2023August 31, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

First time at the Minnesota State Fair? Here’s how it went for me

by Alfonzo Galvan August 29, 2023August 29, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Former Sears building’s new owner breaks silence on its potential future

by Alfonzo Galvan August 29, 2023September 1, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Mayor Frey vetoes Minneapolis rideshare ordinance, announces changes for Uber drivers

by Alfonzo Galvan August 22, 2023August 22, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Here comes the Minnesota State Fair! Are you ready? Some things to know before you go.

by Alfonzo Galvan August 18, 2023August 23, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Minneapolis City Council passes ordinance requiring increased wages for Uber and Lyft drivers, but falls short of veto-proof majority

by Alfonzo Galvan August 17, 2023August 18, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Amazon facility in Brooklyn Park provides hijabs for Muslim workers through new partnership

by Alfonzo Galvan August 16, 2023August 16, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Uber, Lyft threaten to pull out of Minneapolis if council approves proposed ordinance

by Alfonzo Galvan August 15, 2023August 17, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Proposed Uber, Lyft ordinance heads to Minneapolis City Council for approval

by Alfonzo Galvan August 8, 2023August 8, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Two Minnesotans named to Obama Foundation Leaders USA program

by Alfonzo Galvan August 4, 2023August 8, 2023

News

Uber, Lyft drivers call for wage increase as Minneapolis considers rideshare ordinance

by Alfonzo Galvan July 25, 2023July 28, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

New Minnesota State Fair food vendors hope ethnic treats become fan favorites

by Alfonzo Galvan July 14, 2023July 17, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Afro Deli, others join Minnesota State Fair as new food vendors

by Alfonzo Galvan July 11, 2023July 11, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

How to get a job at the Minnesota State Fair

by Alfonzo Galvan July 4, 2023July 5, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

‘We love rice’: Chef Yia Vang focuses on rice for newest pop up, Mov

by Alfonzo Galvan June 16, 2023June 23, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Indigenous Food Lab Market celebrates Native ingredients and knowledge

by Aaron Nesheim June 6, 2023June 9, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Marc Heu Patisserie Paris: A place for Hmong grandmas to shy teenagers

by Alfonzo Galvan June 2, 2023June 2, 2023

DEMOCRACY & POLITICS

New legislation protects Hmong farming collective in Dakota County

by Alfonzo Galvan May 30, 2023May 31, 2023

DEMOCRACY & POLITICS

Governor Tim Walz vetoes rideshare bill against Uber, Lyft drivers’ wishes

by Alfonzo Galvan May 25, 2023May 25, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Uber, Lyft bill passes Senate; rideshare companies ask Governor Walz to veto

by Alfonzo Galvan May 22, 2023May 25, 2023

A new grocery store in St. Paul: Karen and Nepali Foods

by Regina Medina May 18, 2023May 19, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

East African Business Association aims to strengthen immigrant business owners

by Alfonzo Galvan May 16, 2023May 17, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

St. Paul’s The Tooth Fairy Candy Store offers sweets and a lesson in entrepreneurship

by Alfonzo Galvan May 11, 2023May 16, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Beloved Minneapolis bakery Keefer Court to reopen at Asia Mall in late 2023

by Katelyn Vue May 9, 2023May 9, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Afro Deli owner named National Small Business Person of the Year

by Alfonzo Galvan May 1, 2023June 9, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

New state research shows that immigration could help ease Minnesota’s labor shortage

by Alfonzo Galvan April 25, 2023April 25, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Minnesota House approves safety bill for workers at Amazon facilities and other warehouses

by Alfonzo Galvan April 24, 2023May 1, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

No tienes documentos y no sabes cómo declarar tus impuestos?

by Alfonzo Galvan April 17, 2023April 17, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Cajeta Coffee debuts in White Bear Lake, offering a taste of Mexico

by Samantha HoangLong April 17, 2023April 17, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Activists, farmers raise concerns about equity measures in Minnesota’s marijuana legalization bill

by Joey Peters April 12, 2023April 13, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Twin Cities Cub grocery workers ‘overwhelmingly’ approve new union contract

by Alfonzo Galvan April 11, 2023April 11, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Cub grocery store workers avert strike after reaching a new contract

by Alfonzo Galvan April 7, 2023April 7, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Amazon shutters Shakopee facility, agrees to transfer hundreds of workers

by Alfonzo Galvan March 31, 2023March 31, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

‘Elevate and empower’: How St. Cloud’s Diverse Voices Press is filling a gap in children’s literature

by Alfonzo Galvan March 30, 2023March 31, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Undocumented and wondering how to file your taxes? Here’s a guide to filing federal and state taxes.

by Alfonzo Galvan March 28, 2023May 24, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

‘Why are they closing Walmart?’: Community members are upset over announced closure of store in Brooklyn Center

by Alfonzo Galvan March 23, 2023March 23, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

‘I’m the chef now’: Afro Deli owner Abdirahman Kahin named Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year

by Alfonzo Galvan March 21, 2023March 21, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

A fresh fade right at home: Black student-athletes at St. Olaf start campus barber shop featured in CBS Sports documentary

by Alfonzo Galvan March 15, 2023March 16, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Pineda Tacos’ ‘Millenial grey’ restroom drives Internet wild in viral TikTok video

by Alfonzo Galvan March 3, 2023March 3, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

‘It brought purpose’: Two friends start Fire Mountain Fabrics in between chemo sessions

by Alfonzo Galvan March 1, 2023March 24, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Twin Cities hospital workers call out racism at work, demand change from employers

by Alfonzo Galvan February 21, 2023February 23, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

‘Everybody in that building shops here’: community mourns loss of north Minneapolis Aldi store

by Alfonzo Galvan February 10, 2023February 10, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Workers’ rights group questions Amazon’s motive for closing Shakopee facility

by Alfonzo Galvan February 3, 2023February 3, 2023

Amazon tells Minnesota it will shut down Shakopee center, lay off 680 workers

by Nina Moini January 30, 2023January 30, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Selfies with a side of sweets: Twin Cities Mexican ice cream shop uses its social media popularity to attract customers.

by Alfonzo Galvan January 30, 2023January 31, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Mustard greens, enoki mushrooms, and fufu: Brooklyn Park business delivers Asian and African pantry essentials to front doors

by Nikhil Kumaran January 26, 2023January 27, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

From suitcases to herbs: How one Lake Street business survived the pandemic by offering medicinal herbs

by Alfonzo Galvan January 23, 2023January 23, 2023

George Floyd family fund accepting grant applications to help Minneapolis

by Maya Rao January 13, 2023January 13, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Uber and Lyft drivers raise concerns about pay and benefits to company representatives, Minneapolis city leaders

by Alfonzo Galvan January 12, 2023January 13, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Entrepreneurs of color demand equity and access in revived effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota.

by Joey Peters December 12, 2022December 13, 2022

Real estate investors sold Somali families on a fast track to homeownership in Minnesota. The buyers risk losing everything.

by Jessica Lussenhop, Joey Peters and Haru Coryne November 21, 2022July 10, 2023

Can’t make the payments on your contract for deed? Here’s where to look for help.

by Joey Peters November 21, 2022December 1, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

A vintage jersey leads to small business dreams for the Salado-Herrera brothers.

by Mike Mosedale November 14, 2022November 14, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Amazon employees walk out at Eagan warehouse over planned layoffs.

by Joey Peters November 1, 2022November 2, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Asia Mall plans a soft opening this month after summer debut was delayed.

by Nikhil Kumaran November 1, 2022November 1, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Making It in Minnesota: Why a Turkish immigrant left her graduate studies at Notre Dame to open a housewares boutique in St. Paul.

by Mike Mosedale October 31, 2022November 3, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

CenturyLink offers slower internet service to Black and brown neighborhoods in Minneapolis, new report claims.

by Becky Z. Dernbach October 21, 2022October 25, 2022

Biltong, a dried meat snack from southern Africa, comes to Minnesota.

by Brooks Johnson October 5, 2022October 5, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Entrepreneur Juan Mejia persevered as banks turned him down for loans. Recent research says people of color disproportionately face challenges accessing credit.

by Joey Peters September 1, 2022September 1, 2022

Entrepreneur Houston White is building Black economic power in north Minneapolis.

by Rachel Hutton August 22, 2022August 22, 2022

Ying Xiong created the JY Line to provide biodegradable plates and utensils for the Hmong community and others.

BUSINESS & WORK

Piles of plastic and styrofoam plates spurred Ying Xiong to create Hmong-inspired, compostable dinnerware.

by Aarushi Sen July 21, 2022July 22, 2022

Mary Taris poses with ‘Blended In Or Faded Out’ by Colonese M. Hendon at the Strive bookstore in Minneapolis, MN on July 15, 2022.

BUSINESS & WORK

Mary Taris couldn’t find enough books with Black characters for her children. Now, she’s opening a bookstore in downtown Minneapolis.

by Noor Adwan July 18, 2022July 18, 2022

Ofelia Ponce, left, and Inti Martínez-Alemán, right, own and operate Abogados Café and Ceiba Fôrte Law Firm in St. Paul's Como Park neighborhood.

BUSINESS & WORK

Honduran couple brings bilingual law firm, gourmet coffee to St. Paul’s Como Park neighborhood.

by Mike Mosedale July 15, 2022July 18, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Mohamed Malim uplifts refugee experience through fashion brand, Epimonia.

by Noor Adwan July 11, 2022July 11, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

North Minneapolis bank is reborn as an incubator for Black-owned businesses.

by Megan Burks and Tom Crann July 7, 2022July 7, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

One family’s race across town for the best Asian foods inspired the Twin Cities’ first pan-Asian mall.

by Aarushi Sen July 6, 2022July 7, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

More than just a game: Minneapolis company strives to make culturally accurate, online learning tools.

by Vicki Adame June 30, 2022June 30, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Amazon’s Shakopee workers rally for better pay, criticize company for not giving Muslim employees vacation on Eid.

by Matt Furber June 17, 2022June 20, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Workers’ rights group calls on Twin Cities developers to help stop worker abuse.

by Aarushi Sen June 16, 2022June 16, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

A summer romance blossoms into marriage, a shared career for Twin Cities filmmakers.

by Mike Mosedale June 13, 2022June 13, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

What to know about applying for Minnesota’s front-line worker bonus

by Grace Birnstengel June 10, 2022December 21, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Muslim workers say they suffered religious discrimination at Worldwide Flight Services. After the employees protested, they say supervisors assigned them extra tasks like cleaning bathrooms.

by Joey Peters June 1, 2022June 1, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Tom Gitaa started a two-page digest of African news a quarter century ago. Today, Mshale is Minnesota’s longest-running newspaper serving African immigrants.

by Mike Mosedale May 24, 2022May 24, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Som Boualaphanh came from a refugee camp in Thailand to build a new life in Minnesota. Now, as the cofounder and partner in a full-service engineering firm, he’s helping to build medical centers and industrial facilities.

by Mike Mosedale May 18, 2022June 7, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Minnesota businesses run by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were hit hard by the pandemic and a rise in hate crimes. An expo will try to help them build back.

by Katelyn Vue May 11, 2022May 10, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

A cooling housing market drove Florence Karp out of the mortgage business. Launching a Nigerian hot sauce, Afric, put Karp into business for herself.

by Mike Mosedale May 10, 2022May 10, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Akeem Akway used to cut hair for his Fridley high school pals at $5 a pop. Now he owns three barber shops and crafts $100 fades for some of the biggest names in Minnesota sports.

by Mike Mosedale April 6, 2022April 7, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

A tattoo artist from China finds a new home—and opportunity—on St. Paul’s Grand Avenue.

by Mike Mosedale March 19, 2022January 27, 2023

BUSINESS & WORK

Kevin Aldwaik learned early that he didn’t fit in the corporate world. He does fit behind the counter of his tidy corner store, serving the Webber-Camden neighborhood of north Minneapolis.

by Mike Mosedale March 13, 2022March 13, 2022

CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT

Nigerian immigrant Wale Falade thinks Minnesota is ready to see more work by architects of color. His own firm, FIHAN, just won the bid to redesign Minneapolis’ North Commons Park.

by Sheila Mulrooney Eldred March 8, 2022March 9, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Midtown Global Market once was a cutting-edge incubator for entrepreneurs of color. But the challenges have piled up, and some vendors are worried about its future.

by James Norton March 4, 2022March 7, 2022

COMMUNITY VOICES

Anne Leland Clark: Payday loan debts have financially hobbled thousands of Minnesotans. Lawmakers and other elected officials must advocate for reform in lending practices, including interest rate caps.

by Anne Leland Clark February 24, 2022February 24, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Amalia Moreno-Damgaard quit her job in banking to become a chef and entrepreneur. All she had to do was go back to school, invent a new career, and never stop taking risks.

by Mike Mosedale February 21, 2022February 21, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Kamal Mohamed wants to serve new, Ethiopian-inspired food at his dining spot, StepChld. He also wants to throw out the old, tyrannical ways of running a restaurant.

by Mecca Bos February 19, 2022February 22, 2022

CHANGING MINNESOTA

As a girl in Wisconsin, ThaoMee Xiong’s immigrant father worked the halls of her school – as its janitor. Decades later, she works the halls of power in Minnesota for the Coalition of Asian American Leaders.

by Katelyn Vue February 16, 2022February 16, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

As a child in Cameroon, Samuel Ngwa picked coffee beans on his family’s small farm. He never expected he’d start a coffee import business of his own—in Minnesota.

by Mike Mosedale February 13, 2022February 14, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Making It in Minnesota: Arnold Kubei went bankrupt trying to launch a Twin Cities gas station. Less than 10 years later, the immigrant entrepreneur from Cameroon expects to collect more than $5 million providing social services and housing.

by Mike Mosedale February 7, 2022February 7, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

While Feeding Our Future brought in millions of dollars in federal food aid money last year, its director also launched a GoFundMe campaign that brought in tens of thousands more.

by Joey Peters February 4, 2022September 20, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Why hasn’t anyone been charged in the Feeding Our Future investigation? And what’s a search warrant, anyway? We asked a defense attorney to explain what’s happened so far in the alleged food fraud case—and what happens next.

by Hibah Ansari February 2, 2022February 23, 2022

News

Feeding Our Future director blames Minnesota Department of Education for food aid probe.

by Joey Peters February 1, 2022February 23, 2022

COMMUNITY VOICES

Hamse Warfa: Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development has made big strides toward expanding opportunities to Minnesotans of all backgrounds. Here’s how the agency did it.

by Hamse Warfa January 31, 2022January 31, 2022

BUSINESS & WORK

Making It in Minnesota: Filipino customers will drive for hours to find food from home. Herman and Faith Rott opened a new grocery store in Mounds View to give it to them.

by Mike Mosedale January 28, 2022January 29, 2022