Cities, Counties Aim to Help Small Businesses

Beginning this month Dakota County started offering free small-business consulting to entrepreneurs through a program called "Open to Business."

It's the latest in a long list of cities and counties around the metro trying to help small businesses succeed. 

"Small businesses are the life force of any community.  They provide jobs and they turn neighborhoods around," said Rob Smolund with Open to Business.

Business advisors offer free one-on-one counseling and in some cases, they can offer loans.

The program started in Brooklyn Park in 2010 and has since expanded to two other counties and seventeen cities in Hennepin County.

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