Month: April 2018

Active transportation and its community benefits

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What makes a city great? According to Gil Penalosa, a great city is one that is livable and safe – both for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old.

Gil Penalosa

Penalosa is the founder of internationally known nonprofit 8-80 Cities and the chair of the board of World Urban Parks. The world-renowned urbanist advises communities on how to create vibrant cities and healthy communities for everyone – regardless of age, gender, or social, economic, or ethnic background.

The pioneer of the “Open Streets” movement, Penalosa has led the development of over 200 parks and worked in over 300 cities worldwide. He concentrates on design, use of parks and streets as public spaces, and sustainable mobility via bike, foot, car, and public transit and is passionate about building cities for all people.

Tracking success. Sharing results.

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Destination Medical Center (DMC) is moving at a good pace, and it seems like every time we turn around there is something different or new happening in the DMC District that is changing the landscape in an exciting way.  We’ve created a way that you can track the momentum easily with the click of a button on the new DMC Metrics Dashboard.

This new tool offers an at a glance way to stay up to speed on the progress being made toward each of the goals outlined in the DMC Development Plan.

Five Questions with Chris Schad, Destination Medical Center’s Director of Business Development – Discovery Square

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Chris Schad

Chris Schad is a driving force behind Destination Medical Center’s Discovery Square. He directs business and economic development for the healthcare technology hub that is the cornerstone of the Destination Medical Center (DMC) initiative. He works to recruit healthcare companies to Rochester and attract investment capital to the region. He is also passionate about growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Rochester, a key to our community’s long-term success.

We spent some time with Chris to learn more about his priorities for Discovery Square and why he thinks Rochester is a hidden gem.

Rochester contributes to Minnesota as No. 1 Gainer of 2017 Venture Capital Market Share

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A recent report from Chartio shows Minnesota has jumped 13 spots to No. 15 as the best market for venture capital in the United States in 2017 – and Rochester was a major contributor.

At the same time as Minnesota saw the increase, states like Colorado, Tennessee, Texas, and Illinois have lost market share. California retains the top spot, though its lead is slipping as investments tap into booming startup hubs around the country.

Rochester hosts Bike+Walk Minnesota conference

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This spring, Rochester is proud to welcome the Bike+Walk Minnesota conference (April 29 – May 1), bringing together planners, professionals, and advocates from across Minnesota to explore connections between biking and walking, discuss how communities are creating better public spaces for all users, and address the open-ended question of what comes next for transportation and recreation options in Rochester and around the state.

What’s happening at the Bike+Walk conference?

Opportunities to network begin the evening of Sunday, April 29 with conference programming and breakout sessions running from Monday morning through Tuesday afternoon.

DMC ignites growth

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Lisa Clarke

By Lisa Clarke, DMC Economic Development Agency executive director

Recently, I had a day when I was stopped several times by people who wanted to talk with me about how excited they are about DMC and its potential.

I spoke with a baby boomer couple who moved downtown and are amazed at the progress.

I talked with a team of sisters who are small business owners – they have lived through 15 years of changes in Rochester’s downtown and are confident about their business’ future success.

I visited with an entrepreneur who moved here because of what she heard about DMC activity.

I heard from a physician at Mayo who is looking forward to hiring a new doctor in his department who wants to live downtown and feels there are good job opportunities for his spouse.

I talked with a Mayo Clinic patient who heard about DMC and wants to talk to me about investing in Rochester for retail development.

All of these conversations about how DMC is impacting our community happened in just one day.