Local Food Showcase at Bethel a Success!

Nothing brings students out of the wood work quite like free food, and Bethel’s Taste Minnesota event did just that!  On October 1-2, Bethel University held a local food showcase by bringing five local vendors on campus.  Bethel’s Sodexo representative organized the event in connection with the Central Corridor Anchor Partnership (CCAP).Event Advertisement

CCAP provided lists of eligible vendors, and Bethel embraced the event as an opportunity to advance the Partnership’s goal of increasing spending with local vendors by 5% over five years.  The Partnership has committed to this goal because its partners believe that such an effort can create wealth in communities adjacent to the Central Corridor by focusing and aggregating the demand from the anchor institutions to local suppliers that employ and invest in the community.  Together, the anchor partners spend $3 billion annually in goods and services.  Anchor partner spending on food is one of the “big bet” categories of spending that an expert study identified as “addressable,” meaning that spending can reasonably be shifted to local vendors.  See MCTC Shifts from National to Local Food Vendor, While ICIC Identifies Additional $328M Anchors Could Shift

Taste Minnesota, Bethel, PB Crave‘Institutionalizing’ Local Spending with Bethel Flex

While free samples provided an introduction to the local vendors, Bethel and Sodexo further primed the pump by allowing students to use their Bethel Flex dining cards for purchases.  Local vendors included PB Crave, CityKid Java, InHarvest, Caribou Coffee and True Stone Coffee Roasters.  Popular items with the students included artisan peanut butter from PB Crave, veggie “Aztec” burgers, Mediterranean blend whole grain salad, and cold brew coffee. 

Sodexo’s Bob Schuchardt used the event as an opportunity to learn more about student food preferences with an eye toward incorporating them into Bethel’s retail offerings.  His focus is to look for items that make sense for a student’s lifestyle and fit with Bethel Sodexo’s operations.  Schuchardt also plans to incorporate specialty items from these local vendors into Bethel’s Holiday Gift Baskets this year.Taste Minnesota, Bethel, True Stone

Future of Local Spending

The Local Food Showcase was deemed a success by Bethel.  With the success of this Fall’s showcase there are plans for a spring showcase and student engagement off campus in a field trip of sorts to local vendors.  Stay tuned!

HealthEast joins Anchor Partnership

Kathryn CorreiaKathryn Correia, President and CEO of HealthEast, announced today that HealthEast has formally joined the Central Corridor Anchor Partnership. The Partnership is a group of 12 colleges, universities, hospitals, and health care organizations that have used the debut of the Green Line LRT as an occasion to link their investments in a vision that is “anchored” to the health, vitality, and growth of Central Corridor neighborhoods. These partners have jointly committed to spending more procurement dollars with local businesses, hiring more local residents, and promoting transit use by students and employees.

“The Anchor Partnership is a great fit with our vision,” said Correia.  “We are deeply committed to optimal health and well-being for our patients, our communities and ourselves, and we want to work together in partnership with other health care and education organizations to positively impact the factors that influence the health and resilience of our neighbors.”

Paul Pribbenow, President of Augsburg College and Chair of the Partnership, welcomed HealthEast as a great addition. “We are starting to see important traction in our initiatives,” he noted, “and adding a significant partner like HealthEast will surely expand the collective impact of this work.”

Metropolitan State University President Devinder Malhotra agreed.  “This is a really strong value and values proposition,” Malhotra stated. “We are deeply committed to fostering a campus culture of community engagement, addressing mutually-defined interests and building on the capacities of local communities, and HealthEast sees the future of health care in this same light.” Malhotra views the innovation and shared resources of the Partnership as assets to create opportunities for local residents, while also helping each organization deliver a high quality work force of the future.

Vision of community health

John Swanholm, Vice President of Community Advancement and Executive Director of the HealthEast Foundation, sees anchor partnership work as part of a larger vision of community health.  “We are in the business of providing health care services,” Swanholm explained, “but we recognize that health depends largely on what happens in our homes, schools, workplaces and communities – long before people enter our clinics and hospitals.” John Swanholm

HealthEast has already engaged its team in the workforce and procurement initiatives of the Partnership. Patty Kelley, MSN, RN, is an education and development specialist for HealthEast.  “We know that high rates of poverty and unemployment can create barriers to health and well-being,” she noted. “And we know as an employer that hiring more local residents into health care careers is a path to both community health and our own success in delivering high quality care.”

Jim VanDrasek, system director for materials management at HealthEast, has hosted the Partnership’s procurement work group and sees the connections between local food procurement and community health. “We’ve also heard from patients and our employees that who want us to include more local and fresh food in our system,” he stated. 

Connecting through the Green Line

HealthEast has a strong footprint on the Green Line, with LRT stations just a few steps away from Bethesda and St. Joseph’s Hospitals, its Downtown St. Paul clinic, as well as HealthEast corporate offices at its Midway location. “I’m excited that the Partnership presents us with opportunities to promote the connections between using transit and better health for our employees,” commented Swanholm. “We are in a great position to partner with Metro Transit and share the message that taking transit to work helps to relieve stress and shed pounds.” 

HealthEast Team - Habitat for HumanityAbout HealthEast

HealthEast is the leading health care provider in the Twin Cities East Metro. From prevention to cure, HealthEast meets the needs of the community with a blend of primary, acute and post-acute care. Its family health and specialty programs span four hospitals – Bethesda Hospital, St. John’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Woodwinds Health Campus – plus 14 clinics, home care and medical transportation. HealthEast’s nearly 7,500 employees and 1,400 physicians on staff work toward a vision of optimal health and well-being for our patients, our communities and ourselves. The organization is focused on a future that includes community well-being and deepening partnerships with East Metro organizations.

Augsburg Students Score 200% on Transit Test

The Freshman Class at Augsburg College signed on to a transit promotion at double the expected rate, confirming Metro Transit’s hypothesis that new students are an important market segment to reach during a formative time of transition. 

The Central Corridor Anchor Partnership is committed to boosting transit use by students and employees by 5% in five years.  Metro Transit developed a pilot project with the Partnership to provide each Augsburg freshman a Go To card loaded with $20 at the beginning of student orientation, with the offer that students who loaded $10 on their card by October 1 would gain $45 more in value. AugSem Freshmen Class Go To Pass

Historically, Augsburg students’ use of the College Pass, an unlimited ride card sold to college students each semester, has been quite low -- only 0.4% of the student body bought cards in 2014.  The Partnership set a goal of persuading 15% of the Freshman Class to spend $10 on their Go To cards, or 72 students.  By October 1, 146 students had signed on, confirming the wisdom of targeting new students and using the Go To stored value cards to encourage students to try transit.

Written into the curriculum

Augsburg wrote the transit experience into the Freshman seminar curriculum, as each new student used their transit card for an AugSem excursion on City Service day.  Assistant Professor Kristen Chamberlin took advantage of the transit passes to take her Environmental Communications class outside the classroom.  Chamberlin’s class stenciled storm drains with the goal of promoting watershed stewardship and discouraging people from placing waste in the drains.  “I wouldn’t be able to teach this course if it weren’t for the Go To cards and the Green Line,” she noted.

Transit is also seen as part of the urban college lifestyle, connecting the campus to great urban amenities in the Twin Cities.  “I haven’t had a chance to explore the Twin Cities yet,” noted student Max Werner.  “I am really yearning to use that Go To card.”  Jordan Parschall, another student said that attending a college in the central city with good access to transit was a major factor in his college choice.  “One of the reasons I came to Augsburg was that I was sick and tired of driving!” Parschall exclaimed.  “I will be using my Go To card this week to go to a meeting off campus.” 

Student-led campaign

Clearly one key element of the successful transit promotion was the leadership of Augsburg students Sulin Phat and Anisa Sharif, two interns who helped to shape a communications campaign to market the Go To card offer to the Freshman class.  Phat, a senior communications major at Augsburg, found the opportunity to plan and implement this pilot initiative great practical experience in her field of study. 

“I really felt challenged to step out of my comfort zone,” Phat reflected.  “And I learned the value of collaborating on creative ideas, especially through the opportunity to implement and test these ideas in a short campaign.” Anisa Sharif, Intern

Sulin Phat, InternSharif is a junior history major who served as a counselor in Augsburg's Scrubs Camp and also has experience in community organizing.  She is a strong believer in public transit, and a passionate advocate for Light Rail.  “This campaign really solidified my thinking about transportation,” Sharif commented.  “It is so important, and I think our project made other Augsburg students jealous of the Go To card offer to the Freshman class.”  

Transit official encouraged

Metro Transit director Brian Lamb is pleased with the results of this pilot effort.  "Asking anyone to try something new can be an interesting proposition," Lamb said. "We are thrilled that 146 Augsburg students took us up on this offer. It will surely help to guide our thinking as we refine our marketing plans."