Members of the Cook County Chamber traveled to the State Capitol in mid-March to talk about issues important to Cook County businesses. Meeting with House Speaker Paul Thissen were (L-R)Dennis Rysdahl of Bluefin Bay; Jennifer Stoltz of Cook County Whole Foods Co-op; Howard Hedstrom of Hedstrom Lumber; an aide in Thissen’s office; Speaker Thissen; Jim Boyd, executive director of the Cook County Chamber; Dan Anderson of Minnesota Power; and Representative David Dill. Also attending but not in the photo was Charles Skinner of Lutsen Mountains.
A team from the Cook County Chamber traveled to St. Paul on March 19 – 20 to meet with legislators and state officials to enlist state support for the chamber’s efforts for a number of issues.
Making the trip were Jennifer Stoltz of the Cook County Whole Foods Co-op; Dan Anderson of Minnesota Power; Howard Hedstrom of Hedstrom Lumber Co.; Charles Skinner of Lutsen Mountains; Dennis Rysdahl of Bluefin Bay; and Chamber Director Jim Boyd.
Boyd said Judy Erickson of Conservation Strategies, Inc., the chamber’s representative in St. Paul, did an excellent job of arranging meetings. Boyd stressed that the board members made this trip “on their own dime.”
“They took the time off from work and paid their own way,” said Boyd. “This is true community service.”
Boyd said the chamber received good feedback on two immediate issues, supplemental bonding for the Lake Superior- Poplar River Water District pipeline project and bonding for the Gitchi Gami bicycle trail segment from Grand Marais to Cutface Creek. Boyd said both are in the House bonding bill; the Senate version will not be available for several weeks.
“At every meeting, we put in a strong pitch for the two projects and were reassured that they would be funded. Such is the dynamic of legislative action that you never can be assured of success until the session ends. But we have a goodly number of strong legislators in our corner, most especially Sen. Tom Bakk, Rep. David Dill and all of ‘the Range’ legislative delegation,” said Boyd.
Several chamber members also met with Katie Clark Sieben, commissioner for the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Boyd said she commended the chamber and the larger Cook County community for its unified efforts to take charge of the community’s future.
Boyd added, “Out of our meeting with her came a number of ideas that will require follow up. One of the first will be a joint meeting of the EDA [Cook County – Grand Marais Economic Development Authority] board and the chamber board with a representative from DEED to ensure we are well acquainted with all DEED programs that might be beneficial to Cook County.”
Boyd said the chamber also met with officers from the Greater Minnesota Partnership (GMNP), a group of smaller chambers of commerce, EDAs and others recently entities. Boyd said the chamber is a new member of the GMNP and he believes the membership will be beneficial to Cook County. “For example, with the GMNP reps and others, we discussed at length ways in which we might bring greater focus to improvements needed to Highway 61. It is one of the busiest and most important two-lane highways in the state, yet is in worse shape than most. This is an issue we need to learn more about so that we can develop an effective advocacy role for the chamber.”
Boyd said this sort of work is why the county chamber was formed. He said, “We could not do it without your support. Speaking for all members of the board, we are very grateful that you make it possible for us to work toward a healthy, prosperous, thriving and united Cook County.”
Leave a Reply