Friday Five: Coolest thing voting and the upcoming Gubernatorial Forum

By Doug Loon
President and CEO
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

The Chamber’s Coolest Thing Made in Minnesota contest is progressing, and we’re now down to the top 32. The second round of public voting has been underway this week.

It’s been great to see Minnesotans from all across the state get behind the products being made right here in Minnesota. We’ve got manufacturers of all sizes represented, from everyday consumer products to highly specialized equipment and technology. It’s a great reminder of just how diverse and innovative Minnesota’s manufacturing economy is.

The next round of voting will narrow the field to the top 16 on Monday, September 14, then to the top eight on September 21 and the final four on September 28. So, I encourage you to join the fun! It’s a great chance to let your voice be heard and vote for all those cool things made in Minnesota.

We’ll announce this year’s winner at our October 6 Manufacturers’ Summit, and we hope that you can join us for that program. So if you haven’t voted yet, head over to coolestthingmade.com and support your favorite Minnesota made product.

It’s a fun way to celebrate the people and businesses that make things here and ship them all across the country and around the world.

Shifting gears, we’re very excited to announce that the Minnesota Chamber will be hosting a gubernatorial forum for the governor candidates October 19 at Madden’s, featuring Republican candidate Lisa Demuth and Democrat candidate Amy Klobuchar.

This will be a member-exclusive event, and we will not be opening it to the public, so Chamber members should watch their inboxes for the official announcement and registration information in the coming days.

This is going to be an important election in Minnesota as many important offices are on the ballot, both federal and state.

Regardless of who ultimately wins the governor’s race, we need to have a Legislature and state leadership that can find common ground and bring some balance to policymaking. Minnesota businesses need stability and predictability to invest, grow and create jobs.

Uncertainty that comes from policy has a chance to lower our opportunity for economic growth. So, let’s come together during the elections to support business friendly candidates and make sure that we have productive conversations with candidates on both sides of the aisle about what it will take to strengthen our economy and make Minnesota more competitive.

We’ll continue engaging with policymakers through the season because our goal at the Chamber is pretty straightforward. We want a stronger Minnesota economy with more opportunity for businesses, workers and communities across the state.

Thanks for being with us this week and have a great weekend! We look forward to catching up with you on next week’s episode of the Minnesota Business Podcast. Have a great weekend!