Officials help 13-year-old open hot dog stand by giving him permit instead of shutting business down

Thirteen-year-old Jaequan Faulkner opened up a hot dog stand called Old Fashioned Hot Dogs outside his home
Pixabay
Alexandra Richards19 July 2018

The city of Minneapolis helped a teenager set up his own hot dog stand by helping his business meet health inspection standards. instead of shutting it down.

Thirteen-year-old Jaequan Faulkner opened up a stand called Old Fashioned Hot Dogs outside his home to raise money over the summer.

But he ran into trouble when the hot dog stand was reported to health officials.

Logan Ebeling, a health inspector with the city of Minneapolis told CBS that the health department received a complaint from a member of the public about the stand.

The inspector said that all businesses in the city must pass city health inspections to be permitted to serve food in the area.

But instead of shutting down Mr Faulkner’s business, the health department decided to help him.

It enlisted the help of Minneapolis Promise Zone and the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) to bring the hot dog stand up to inspection standards, CBS reported.

The city provided Mr Faulkner with a tent for overhead protection, a hand washing station and a thermometer to check the temperature of his sausages.

The improvements meant that Mr Faulkner’s hot dog stand met the health department’s requirements and he was given a permit.

Mr Faulkner told CBS: "Surprisingly, I'm like, 'Dang, the city's not the bad guys in this situation.' They're actually the ones who are helping me

"It makes me feel kind of -- not kind of -- really proud that people know what I'm doing."

Mr Faulkner began operating with his new permit on Monday.

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