Local Businesses Expecting Boost From Final Four

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – College basketball fans will soon pour into Minneapolis for the Final Four. Local businesses are expecting to see an increase in customers, which will create opportunities for jobs.

The Final Four is all about the best in college basketball, it's also about the host town and what it has to offer to fans.

"We're going to have people on Nicollet, we're going to have people over by the U.S. Bank Stadium and up by the convention center, so it's a really compact and walkable campus for this event," Steve Cramer said.

Minneapolis Downtown Council CEO Steve Cramer says as with other big events, the Final Four not only means an influx of people to the area, but it's also good news for job seekers.

Cramer says building security and maintenance staff are being hired to handle the number of visitors to the area.

"Hotels throughout downtown will also be full, so it's going to be a pretty wide footprint in terms of the economic impact and that's going to translate to job opportunities for people for sure during that long weekend," Cramer said.

Hospitality Minnesota says area hotels and restaurants anticipate a greater number of people eating and staying near U.S. Bank stadium. Most have added wait staff and bartenders to keep up.

"We're calling all of those staff members in," said Erik Forsberg, who owns the Devil Advocate's on Nicollet Mall, Dan Kelly's Pub and Erik the Red across from U.S. Bank Stadium.

Forsberg is calling in former staff members who worked during football season to help out during Final Four games.

"Here at Devil's Advocate, we'll be hosting the Hospitality House," Forsberg said.

There will also be lots of corporate events connected to the big games, sparking more hires for those events as well. The good news for some job seekers is that some of those temporary jobs will become permanent as we get more visitors to the Twin Cities.