North Minneapolis facility brings sports, entrepreneurism, sense of community

U.S. Bank provided V3 Sports with place-based investing grant support and New Markets Tax Credit investment

V3 Sports in North Minneapolis opened a community-inspired health and wellness facility in June and the nonprofit already has more than 900 members.

“Our goal for the year was 600,” said executive director Malik Rucker. “This speaks to the community’s desire and demand for quality facilities in North Minneapolis. There is a need here. We are 92 percent North Siders as far as membership; we are hitting our target audience.”

V3 started in 2007 as a triathlon team that competed locally and at the national level. Through working with students and their families, founding director Erika Binger realized there was a lack of infrastructure for water safety in North Minneapolis.

She and other leaders began to explore how they could create a space for the team to operate in year-round and provide other needed resources to the area. (For more, see the video below.)

North Minneapolis, close to the U.S. Bank headquarters, is a geographic area where the bank is focused on place-based investing, a concentrated, long-term effort that involves community co-design with strategic partners to help build wealth in low-to-moderate income communities and communities of color.

The U.S. Bank Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant to V3 because of its mission to elevate the North Minneapolis community through fitness, wellness and education.

The organization is living out its mission through its 40,000-square-foot, multi-phased, mixed-use facility that includes a 25-yard instructional swimming pool for children and adults, a hydrotherapy pool, a Boys & Girls Club, a fitness center with drop-in childcare, a workforce development center featuring a job training facility, and an entrepreneurial incubator space.

“V3 is a one-of-a-kind facility that creates space for the community to come together, for individuals to grow personally, and to attract business and economic development opportunities to the region,” said U.S. Bank community affairs manager Sofia Terzic.

“The leadership at V3, led by Malik and Erika, has built the vision of V3 by listening to community, which is something we highly value at U.S. Bank,” Terzic said. “They use the facility to elevate community and individuals. We are excited to support V3 as it supports the growth and prosperity of North Minneapolis and its residents.”

In addition, U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance made an investment of $1.8 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) equity to help finance the first phase of V3’s growth plans and provided a $35,000 grant.

“Our investment provides equitable access to health and wellness resources for North Minneapolis residents and helps to close the opportunity gaps of investment and infrastructure between downtown and North Minneapolis,” said Dan Blocher, Impact Finance senior vice president and business development officer.

Rucker said that NMTCs can be a difficult form of financing but, “we made it work and now look at what’s happening at V3. We are very thankful.”

In addition to U.S. Bank Foundation support for V3, funds have supported other nonprofits doing work in North Minneapolis, including Playworks and Minneapolis Parks Foundation.

The investments made in all three organizations are part of U.S. Bank’s concentrated, long-term focus in North Minneapolis to leverage the bank’s array of products and services to drive lasting impact, help create safe recreation opportunities, and build thriving communities.”

“We are focused on powering potential, and that guides our strategy for community relationships,” Terzic said. “As a crucial neighborhood in our headquarters market, we are committed to supporting North Minneapolis so the community and its residents can thrive.”

According to Rucker, V3 now employs nearly 70 people and as phase two is completed, approximately 100 jobs will have been created.

“The jobs being created and the geographic location are intended to have a spillover effect in bringing economic activity to the Plymouth Avenue corridor – where our facility sits – in North Minneapolis,” he said.

Phase two will add 200,000 square feet and is expected to break ground in approximately one year. Plans include the installation of a 50-meter competition pool used in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, with the intent to create a regional swimming hub in North Minneapolis.

“U.S. Bank is really the only company so far that has walked alongside us – a testament to how the organization listens to the community and invests in businesses,” Rucker said. “Place-based investing is building out a community with community, in community.”

*U.S. Bank Foundation is a tax-exempt private foundation described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation is funded primarily through contributions from U.S. Bank National Association and its affiliates and subsidiaries. The Foundation’s mission is to close the gaps between people and possibility in the areas of work, home and play.