Probe flags possible ineligible firms in Promise Act grants

An investigative report into Minnesota’s Promise Act small‑business grant program has found indications that some aid may have gone to ineligible companies, including at least one cargo business that listed a Lake Street address the actual property owner says has no record of it operating there. The Promise Act was set up to funnel state money into businesses on corridors like Lake Street that were hit hard by the 2020 unrest, making the legitimacy of those addresses a central eligibility test. The nonprofit contracted to administer the program told the Business Journal it is "applying lessons" from this first round to tighten vetting before the next wave of grants goes out, but did not spell out exactly how screening failed or how many questionable awards are under review. For Minneapolis corridor businesses that have complained quietly for months about opaque criteria and slow decisions, this is the first on‑the‑record confirmation that basic address and eligibility checks may have broken down, raising questions about state oversight and whether scarce recovery funds actually reached the storefronts they were sold to voters as helping.