We can make our vision of St. Paul in 2025 happen by embracing and nourishing a local economy of independent businesses, co-operatives, and worker-run enterprises. Statistics are clear in showing that small business is the true engine for producing more jobs. An investment in the local economy is an investment that will continue to circulate from business to business in St. Paul, the Metro area, and the state of Minnesota. Our vision is to protect St. Paul against destructive national and global trends in economic development and to build a self-reliant new model for cities in the 21st century. We need a living wage for all workers. Other needs are creation and use of development funds to assist independent businesses in buying their buildings; keeping tax increment financing (TIF) to its original goal of healing blighted areas instead of bribing large corporations; and developing strong economic ties to rural Minnesota through farmers markets and purchase of local organic foods by schools and other city-operated institutions. An immediate need is a cap on the square footage of new retail stores to prevent big-box chains from putting local stores out of business.
