Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s”recent ‘news update”included two posts that are both near and dear to Knight Foundation – and great news for the city.

First, Coleman announced’a new ‘fund to help small businesses survive construction of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line, 11-miles of rail that will connect Minneapolis and St. Paul.”The”Central Corridor Funders Collaborative”was instrumental in’supporting the planning for the project and then leveraged $1 million in public funds with’a’$500,000′ grant’.’Knight was one of the lead foundations that helped launch this funders collaborative. ‘The line is scheduled to open for riders in 2014.

The second focused on the public launch of’Knight’s”library grant to support a”Mobile”Workplace . It will provide’ten classes every week throughout the summer to teach residents the essential computer skills they need to compete in the 21st century.”By bringing these classes out into the community, we are able to reach residents who don’t have ready access to computers or the internet. Many of the people who attend these classes have never used a computer before, and digital literacy has become a prerequisite for the modern workplace.’ ‘One great part of this initiative is that we are able to offer classes to residents in English, Somali, Spanish, Hmong, Karen, Amharic, and Tigrinya.

The grant was part of Knight’s Library Initiative, a 20-city effort to enhance digital access and training.