Upcoming events to watch for ahead of legislative session

It's been an important week here at the Chamber. We kicked off our policy making process with a meeting of our Board of Directors this week. In fact, just yesterday, our Board got together to start reviewing the policy statements of the Minnesota chamber as we prepare for the upcoming 2025 legislative session, which is just a few months from now. We spend a lot of time at the Chamber developing our positions in advance of the legislative sessions, and we do this intentionally and very thoughtfully with the input from the statewide business community and our members. We go out and listen to members all across the state to try to make sure that we're in touch with the issues that matter the most to you and your business, so that we can protect and grow communities all across the state and grow our private sector economy to protect the interests of business and to create a favorable business climate for businesses that's fundamental to what we stand for.

Our policy statements that are designed by our policy committees and reviewed by our Board come together in the fall to design these statements well in advance of session. Then, we look at those statements and we deploy those issues that matter the most, given the political landscape after the elections. So, it's important that we get the best we can out of our elections this year. And that's why it's so important that the business community is engaged.

You know, there's 11 days left after today, before the elections on November 5. So, if you haven't already voted, get informed and think about where the direction of our state is headed what you can do to help restore some balance and thoughtful policy making to St. Paul so we can protect your business, your community and our state's economic direction.

Speaking of which, after the elections, we're going to be analyzing the impacts of the election results. After the dust settles, we will be breaking down the results for you, and we're going to be doing it at our 2024 Economic Summit, which is November 20. It'll be at the University of Minnesota's campus, and we're excited about the opportunity to share with you how the elections will impact the work that we want to do at the capitol in January of 2025. It’s not far away, and the elections are between us, and then we're going to have Blois Olson with us at the Summit to share his insights on the impacts of the elections with the Chamber's own Laura Bordelon. Laura is our chief lobbyist and senior vice president overseeing all of our advocacy, political communications, grassroots efforts, and she's got a great political mind to herself as well.

I encourage you to come hear about what the elections mean, and the possibilities or the challenges that we're going to face with the new legislature. The University of Minnesota’s new President, Dr. Rebecca Cunningham, will headline the event and address the group about her initial time in office, but also the U’s contributions and its importance to growing Minnesota's economy. You know, they do a lot of research at the U that spawns all kinds of new products, tech transfers, and creates an amazing workforce of innovators and entrepreneurs. So, she's going to be on hand talking about all those things that are important to the U but also important to the business community.

So check out the 2024 Economic Summit on November 20 at the U, and I encourage you to check out some of our other upcoming events, which include the Women in Business Minnesota: Annual Legislative Luncheon and your favorite, Session Priorities!