The East Town Business Partnership held its Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Best Western Normandy Inn. There were over 75 people in attendance.
Elections to the ETBP Board of Directors took place at this meeting. We welcomed five new board members:
- Jacquie Berglund, Finnegans
- Richard Kiemen, Sherman Associates
- Julia Lauwagie, Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge
- Deborah Moses, House of Charity
- Theresa Pesch, Hennepin Healthcare
A big thank you goes out to our retiring board members for their years of service to this board.
- Siyad Abdullahi, Language Banc
- Tom Hayes, Hennepin Healthcare
- Brian Maupin, Allied Parking
- Paul Mellblom, MSR Design (outgoing board chair)
- Tim Tucker, Augustana Care
They helped guide us through the re-branding of the organization from the East Downtown Council to the East Town Business Partnership. We will forever be grateful for their commitment to this organization and the East Town Business District.
We also celebrated Paul Mellblom’s retirement as the President of the East Town Business Partnership Board of Directors. He has been a tireless advocate for this organization with elected officials, civic leaders, the business community and the press. The board gifted Paul with a piece of Word Art that is a compilation of words that describe his outstanding character. We will miss his leadership.
In addition to the regular board business that takes place at the Annual Meeting. We had a great program. The title for this month’s forum was “Advancing Arts and Entertainment in East Town.” The panel of speakers included:
- Britt Udesen, Executive and Artistic Director, The Loft Literary Center
- Cassie Garner, Gallery Director, Gamut Gallery
- Ben Kelly, Organizer, Good Arts Collective
We’ve put together an information sheet that briefly describes many of the arts based organizations located in the East Town Business District. It’s available via the link below.
East Town Arts and Entertainment Guide
Finally, we would like to thank this year’s sponsor of the East Town Business Partnership Annual Meeting, the Minnesota Vikings.
A link to the Annual Meeting PowerPoint presentation is available here.
