Brooklyn Center has real advantages. We haven’t fully used them.
Brooklyn Center is well-connected by major interstates and state highways, with direct transit connections into Minneapolis and easy access across the metro. Businesses and residents chose Brooklyn Center for exactly these reasons for decades — and some still do. In recent years, Icon Beauty expanded into a larger location, Chase Bank opened, Pollo Campero built a new restaurant, and Scooter’s Coffee is on its way. These aren’t accidents — they’re proof that Brooklyn Center can attract investment when the conditions are right.
But we’ve also lost businesses we shouldn’t have lost, and we haven’t replaced them fast enough. Crime and safety concerns have driven businesses away from our shopping and business areas. Vacant EDA properties sit underutilized. And too often, the city has said yes to development that looked good on paper but couldn’t sustain itself without city support. That has to change.
Brooklyn Center is a landlocked first-ring suburb. We don’t have unlimited land, and not every business model works within our physical constraints. That’s not pessimism — it’s reality. And pretending otherwise wastes everyone’s time and money.
Here’s what I’ll push for:
Brooklyn Center should be a partner to businesses that are ready to succeed — not a safety net for businesses that aren’t. That means requiring solid business plans, sustainable financing, and a clear case for why a business will thrive specifically in Brooklyn Center. Good intentions aren’t a business plan.
The Economic Development Authority exists to support smart, strategic investment in Brooklyn Center. I’ll push for the EDA to be selective, transparent, and focused on projects that grow our tax base and serve our residents — not projects that primarily benefit developers or require ongoing city subsidies to survive.
Businesses don’t locate in communities where they don’t feel safe. Residents don’t shop where they don’t feel safe. Addressing crime and safety concerns — especially around our business areas and transit center — is essential to attracting and keeping businesses in Brooklyn Center.
The businesses that have chosen to stay in or grow within Brooklyn Center deserve a city that works with them, not against them. I’ll advocate for city staff to be responsive when businesses have questions or concerns, push back on policies that create unnecessary burdens, and make sure business owners have a voice in budget and planning conversations.
Brooklyn Center’s economic future won’t be built by chasing big-box retailers that aren’t coming back or subsidizing businesses that can’t sustain themselves. It will be built by making smart, disciplined investments, creating conditions where viable businesses want to locate and grow, and expanding our tax base in ways that benefit every resident — not just developers. Growth is possible here. But only if we’re honest about what we’re working with and disciplined about what we say yes to.
This is a community campaign. Your voice matters and your support makes a difference.
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