April 30, 2021

Via E-Mail Delivery

Senator Eric Pratt Chair, Senate Jobs & Economic Growth Committee 3219 Senate Building Saint Paul, MN 55103

Representative Chair, House Workforce and Business Development Finance and Policy 379 State Office Building Saint Paul, MN 55155

Dear Senator Pratt and Representative Noor:

As you know, Summit Academy OIC has demonstrated significant positive outcomes in advancing economic equity in the Twin Cities region. Today we are asking for your support to ensure Summit Academy continues to receive the support it needs from the State of Minnesota to advance our mission creating pathways into the middle class and developing long-term careers for people of color. We are seeking your support for a direct appropriation of $2 million -- $1 million in each of the next two fiscal years – for Summit Academy.

Summit Academy plays an important role providing opportunities for success. In just 20 weeks, low-income adults move from average annual incomes of $20,000 or less to starting wages of $35,000 and above, at no cost to them. Summit’s new campus, the North Star Innovation Center, will further accelerate pathways into high-wage tech careers and is a regional asset that will drive human capital investment in North Minneapolis.

Summit Academy’s work is crucial. The dual effects of an unprecedented pandemic and economic uncertainty have created a new collective urgency to move ongoing racial equity dialogue into action. The current loss of work and continued decline in labor force participation, particularly in the Black community, will create long-term problems if recovery efforts do not address a core fundamental issue that carries major implications for Minnesota: Low-income communities of color do not have enough access to programs that provide marketable skills and social networks to succeed in today’s job market.

Summit Academy is positioned to meet this unprecedented need by training over 1,000 low- income adults annually in mid-level, skilled occupations. Our new North Star Innovation Center has doubled Summit’s footprint and our capacity to create a Black middle class by housing a slate of new IT programs, an effort we began in 2017 and which now has three training tracks – IT Help Desk Support, Cybersecurity, and Application Development. Partner companies include

Allianz, U.S. Bank, Atomic Data, and Ameriprise Financial, who work with Summit Academy from training design to implementation and the hiring of Summit Academy graduates.

This legislative session, Sen. and Rep. Esther Agbaje introduced legislation to provide for a direct appropriation for Summit Academy to continue and expand training programs at our North Minneapolis campus. We are grateful for their support for our programs and for the bipartisan support we’ve received in the past.

The Jobs & Economic Growth Omnibus bill includes an appropriation of $2 million -- $1 million in each of the next two fiscal years – for Summit Academy. This stable funding will allow Summit Academy to leverage private funding and continue to enroll students in need of training to pursue new career options. Many of our students come to us with existing student loan debt, so re-enrollment in a technical program with Minnesota State or another school that charges tuition is not a viable financial option for them.

At the same time, the Workforce Development Omnibus bill in the Minnesota House has no funds appropriated for Summit Academy and instead replaces direct appropriations with a grant program to be administered by DEED. Such grant programs, while acceptable in some cases, would risk Summit Academy’s ability to continue offering uninterrupted programs for our students. It would also risk the private funds that are leveraged by the state appropriation. Now more than ever with the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to make sure we continue to enroll students in training programs without interruption, especially since additional federal unemployment benefits will end in September.

We are asking you to keep Summit Academy’s critical workforce development activities moving forward by supporting the direct funding included in the Senate bill of $2 million for FY 22-23. We appreciate your thoughtful consideration.

Sincerely,

Louis King, President & CEO

C: Senator Senator Karin Housley Senator Senator Representative Representative Representative Kaela Berg Representative

935 Olson Memorial Hwy, Minneapolis, MN 55405 | 612-377-0150 |Fax 612-377-0156

Website: www.saoic.org | Email: [email protected]