Originally from Minnesota IT Services

Minnesota IT Services is a state agency that operates in partnership with others. Oftentimes, our work developing, configuring, and implementing IT goes towards a larger goal of helping another state agency provide a specific service in a more efficient, streamlined manner.

On March 22nd, MNIT was proud to stand with one of our partners, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA), as they opened a brand new Veterans Home in Minneapolis. MNIT staff worked with teams from MDVA, the Minnesota Department of Administration, and construction crews from the private sector to outfit this new facility with sound technological infrastructure.

The construction design and plan for Building 22 began in 2011, and it included the removal of an existing Veteran residential building and re-architecting the network fiber for the entire Minneapolis Veterans Home campus.

The team from MNIT worked on:

• Planning and designing the fiber network to support the addition of Building 22 to the Minneapolis campus
• Procuring and implementing wireless and wired network capabilities
• Setting up Cisco desktop and conference room phones and fax machines for administrative purposes
• Coordinating the move of existing tech hardware (computers, phones, printing devices) from other buildings into Building 22
• Acquiring, configuring, and setting up point of care touchscreens and medical carts to enhance residential healthcare

Aaron Call, MNIT's Chief Information Security Officer and Interim Chief Operations Officer, offered a few words for MDVA's Veteran Residents at the Grand Opening of Building 22. He thanked, first and foremost, the Veterans and service members for their service, he thanked MDVA and the Department of Administration for inviting us to join the event, and he thanked the MNIT staff who delivered top service to our business partners on this successful project.

The Grand Opening included, among other things, remarks from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Commissioner Larry Shellito from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, Commissioner Matt Massman from the Minnesota Department of Administration, and a Keynote Address from Kay Bauer, a Vietnam Veteran nurse. Ms. Bauer shared stories from her "memory bank" of near misses with explosions, treating soldiers overseas, and working with her "sisters" in nursing.

After a ribbon cutting ceremony, Deputy Commissioner Douglas Hughes and others led tours of the first floor of Building 22. When asked about MNIT's collaboration on the project, Deputy Commissioner Doug Hughes remarked, "The MNIT staff assigned to work specifically with MDVA are great, and we love working with them."

The successful completion of this big project is a great example of what Minnesota's state agencies can do for its citizens when they work in true partnership with one another. Minnesota IT Services is honored to have played a part in serving Minnesota's Veterans and their families with the MDVA and Minnesota Department of Administration.