Heart of the City, seen above, represents the heart of downtown. This district creates a true center of Rochester, a crossroads where Mayo Clinic, commercial, retail, and residential meet.
DMC Corporation Board member and Mayo Clinic Trustee Bill George called 2016 “our year of building momentum.”
As he has done at several previous DMC Corporation Board meetings, George continued to emphasize a strong focus on the Heart of the City sub-district.
“All the citizens, all the visitors to Rochster need to see improvements,” George said. “It’s incumbent upon us to get that moving quickly.”
George also suggested the DMC Economic Development Agency begin detailing plans for development of Heart of the City.
“We need to back this and get it moving,” George said. “We need to have specific milestones by which we can measure progress.”
Former Medtronic CEO and business ethics leader Bill George called Destination Medical Center “the most important thing for Minnesota’s future” in an interview with TPT’s Almanac last week. George, a member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees, was appointed as the Mayo representative to the Destination Medical Center Corporation Board, which is the governing board responsible for overseeing the DMC initiative.
“… It’s brand new – it’s a whole new idea that has never been tried here – I’m not sure where it’s ever been tried,” he said of the $6 billion economic development initiative that will leverage Mayo Clinic and private development to ignite growth and create jobs over the next 20 years. “I see this as the most important thing for Minnesota’s future,” he said. “This is making Minnesota a health care mecca. Our best opportunity for economic growth, jobs and good health is making Minnesota the healthiest state in the nation … that should be our goal.”
Tina Smith named chair of DMCC Board
Tina Smith, Chief of Staff for Governor Mark Dayton, was unanimously selected as chair by the Destination Medical Center Corporation Board at its inaugural meeting last week.
DMCC was created as part of the (DMC) legislation passed in May and serves as the public governing board charged with overseeing the implementation of DMC. The law outlines the appointments of the eight members of the DMCC Board, with Governor Dayton appointing four, the City of Rochester appointing two, Olmsted County appointing one and Mayo Clinic appointing one. Governor Dayton’s appointees include Smith, former Wells Fargo executive James Campbell, Rani Engineering President Susan Rani and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. City of Rochester representatives are Mayor Ardell Brede and Council member Ed Hruska. Olmsted County’s representative is Commission President Jim Bier. Mayo Clinic’s representative is former Medtronic CEO Bill George, who is a member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees.
The Board directed Smith to retain independent legal counsel to review and propose Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws for the DMCC, as well as take steps to develop the DMC work plan. Both action items will be discussed at the next meeting of the Board, which is expected at the end of September.
DMC Ambassadors engage community in visioning Rochester’s future
Thursdays on First, a weekly festival in downtown Rochester, was the site of community brainstorming and visioning for DMC. Over 80 DMC ambassadors have been working to talk with individuals and groups in the Rochester community and surrounding region about what they would like to see grow over the next 20 years. Visioning boards were full of ideas by the end of the day, including everything from increased transportation options to suggestions for restaurants, entertainment venues and social activities. Ambassadors also handed out free DMC t-shirts with the slogan “Let’s Build This Thing” – an invitation for community members to become part of the DMC initiative.
Community members are encouraged to continue sharing their ideas through the DMC Blog, as well as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
