History

In 1990, Western Bank, a long standing community leader in the St. Paul, created Western Initiatives for Neighborhood Development (WIND), as a community development subsidiary to support local economic revitalization initiatives in core areas of poverty in St. Paul and Minneapolis.  Inspired by similar models around the country, including Chicago’s South Shore Bank, as well as a deep commitment to stimulate economic activity in inner city neighborhoods, former Western Bank Chairman Bill Sands created WIND to address pressing needs in the community and hired Mihailo Temali as WIND’s first President.

WIND subsequently evolved into the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC), an independent non-profit organization, that earned it 501c3 designation in 1993.

Initially offering only business training, NDC quickly expanded its offerings to include small business financing, on-going business coaching, and real estate services. In addition to a high-level of growth in its program offerings, the demand for its programs has resulted in NDC more than doubling its staff, increasing its alumni services and adding new language skills services to support Hmong, Somali, Oromo and Spanish-speaking program participants.