Bloomington's top brass rolled out the red carpet for progress at the annual State of the City Address, laying down the game plan for supersizing community assets and dialing up support for businesses big and small. Mayor Tim Busse, alongside City Manager Jamie Verbrugge, hit the podium at the Zawadi Center, preaching to the 250-strong crowd about the $159 million booster shot fueled into local projects from a voter-backed sales tax. The big-ticket items on the docket this year are a glow-up for the Bloomington Ice Garden, a green embrace for the Nine Mile Creek corridor, and the brick-and-mortar birth of a new community health and wellness hub.

In his pitch, the Mayor threw a spotlight on the City's clutch moves to back its business battleground, with construction plans for a small biz incubator expected to break ground this spring, arriving with a splash sometime between late 2024 and early 2025 Busse boasted about not just polishing Bloomington's allure for tourists but also carving out its rep as a hotspot where businesses of all sizes are itching to set up shop. "We all know that Bloomington is not only a tourist destination, our city is a great place to work and do business," Mayor Busse said, also tipping his hat to the collab with the Minneapolis Regional Chamber to launch the Hatch Bloomington contest, a cash-hurling pitch brawl, with a cool $100,000 on the line and the winner scoring a storefront in the city.

But the power duo's agenda wasn't all cash registers and commerce. They're penning a fresh chapter for housing too, with the City Council getting down to brass tacks, reworking zoning laws to pump out more homes, hopping onto the homeownership bandwagon, and nickel-and-dime housing costs down to size. Bloomington bats its eyelashes at developers with open arms, rolling out the welcome mat for tinier lots, houses, and garages, all to crack open the door wider for those dreaming of their piece of the American pie. They're not just talking a big game either—a nearly $3.2 million grant is already earmarked to lay the foundations for 27 new family homes for the not-so-fat-walleted folks earning at or under 80% of the area median gravy.

"Housing is a primary wealth-building tool," Mayor Busse pipped up, banking on the belief that a fair shake at snagging a home is the secret sauce for a thriving city dough. The power pair are hustling hard to jam that cost barrier down and keep a roof within reach for everyone because betting on Bloomington's future means making sure everyone gets a slice of the prosperity pie. Those hankering for the full scoop on Busse and Verbrugge's vision can check out the State of the City at the City's website, where they're serving up all the details neat, no chaser.