The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee

announces the 10th Annual Agriculture Luncheon

March 17th, 2015 12 Noon (buffet lunch)

Fairlane Building - Freeborn County Fairgrounds.

FEATURED SPEAKER: Dr. Mary Davenport, Ph.D.

Vice President of Riverland Community College

Grow MN: Reenergizing Agriculture Education in Southern Minnesota

Dr. Mary Davenport first joined Riverland Community College in 2012 as Interim Vice Presi-

dent and was chosen to fill that role permanently in 2013. Prior to coming to Albert Lea, Dr.

Davenport held a number of positions throughout the MnSCU system. She received her

undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point with advanced

degrees from the University of Wisconsin –Stout. She received her Ph.D. in Occupational

and Educations Studies from Colorado State University. Join us in honoring the 2015 Farm Family of the Year and help us celebrate past re-

cipients of the award.

Tickets are $12.50 each and can be purchased at the: Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce

2580 Bridge Avenue, Northbridge Mall Albert Lea, MN 56007 Phone: 507.373.3938

A Special Thank You to our Current Gold Sponsors:

Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce

Business Monthly

March 2015

Thank you New Members

Elite Pet & Garden, Inc

Flowers by Jane/ Memories Aloft

Thank you Renewing

Members

Four Seasons Travel

Humane Society of Freeborn County

Pantheon Computer Systems

Jensales Inc.

Kwik Trip-Front Street

Thompson Sanitation Services

Vern Eide Motorcars

Herbert Neale

Senior Resources of Freeborn

County

Freeborn County Coop Oil Co.

Farmers Insurance Joe Talamantes Agency

Mona’s Style Salon & Spa, LLC

Albert Lea Noon Kiwanis

Morreim Drainage

Geneva Bar & Grill

Albert Lea Elevator, Inc

Commerce Bank

Neave Health Care Foundation

Pepsi Cola Of Rochester

Albert Lea Senior Center, Inc.

Home Depot

Why You Need The Chamber

And Why The Chamber Needs You.

There have been occasions where I have been asked, Why join the

Chamber? The answer can be elusive to some but to me it can best

be answered as follows:

One voice raised in defense of a right or one person or business

taking on a project is often weak and ineffectual. But when many voices are raised

and many people work together in community affairs, much is achieved. Bringing to-

gether a coalition of individuals who have differing priorities in unity behind

“community” issues causes others to take notice. The voice of the many has great vol-

ume. When you, as an individual or small business, express your opinions and make

your contributions, physically and financially, to that effort, much can be accom-

plished.

The Chamber of Commerce offers the vehicle for this community "clout" - to stimu-

late orderly growth and economic development, to work with state and national legis-

lators on major issues affecting the local cities and counties, to develop social respon-

sibilities affecting homes, schools, health, as well as promote the free enterprise sys-

tem.

Volunteers working together help do the things that as small business operators you

don’t have time to do for yourself. Currently, for example, the Chamber’s Worksite

Wellness Committee is leading the way toward the improvement of the health and

wellness of our community’s workforce through seeking Blue Zones Project Designa-

tion.

The Governmental Affairs Committee continues to monitor closely state and federal

issues. Most recently, the Chamber, along with others from our community and South

Central Minnesota, had the opportunity to address the Senate Transportation and Pub-

lic Safety Committee on the subject of transportation infrastructure and its importance

to the community. We stressed the importance of first class roads and bridges while

cautioning that the funding mechanism should not make us non-competitive with

neighboring states. The problem is real. The funding is elusive.

You, as a small businessperson working in and with the Chamber, make your contri-

butions to the community effort. In turn, the up-grading of the community, the in-

crease in business, the new roads, the new subdivisions, better schools (all things the

Chamber advocates) have a beneficial effect on you, your family, and your business.

You don't serve and support the Chamber; you contribute and work for YOURSELF.

Of course, it takes money to operate the Chamber and it’s various activities, but the

Chamber is working for YOU. lf you make your investment, add your time and con-

centrate your effort, you're going to have "clout" to work for those things that benefit

you and your business.

Let's all work together for working together works . . .

FOR YOU.

Dear Chamber Members,

Page 2

Business Monthly

Referrals The following Business

have received referrals from he Chamber Office this

month: Freeborn Lumber Company

& Design

Holiday Inn Express &

Suites

Best Western/ I-90

AmericInn of Albert Lea

Americas Best Value Inn

Big Island Grille & Bar

Wedgewood Cove

Green Mill

Comfort Inn

Alliance Benefit Group

Applebee's Neighborhood

Grill & Bar

Home Depot

Kwik Trip

Albert Lea Family Y

Anytime Fitness

Fleet Farm Supply

The Unbridled Boutique

Hy-Vee

MarketPlace Foods

Salvation Army

Mona’s Style Salon & Spa

Senior Resources

Anytime Fitness Albert Lea

American Red Cross

Country Soule Boot &

Western Market

Trumble's Family

Restaurant

Godfather’s Pizza

Grandma’s Kitchen

Iron Skillet/SKOL Tavern

Membership Drops The following members chose not to renew their Chamber Membership.

This information is made

Ambassador Visits

Page 3

Business Monthly

Chamber Board of Directors

Randy Cirksena Chair

State Farm at the Barn 373-7717

Jeff Woodside

Vice Chair Albert Lea Select Foods

379-9265

Catherine Buboltz 2nd Vice Chair

Albert Lea Tribune 379-3427

Amy Davis Cargill Value Added Meats

377-2526

Kade Vershay Dave Syverson Auto Mall

373-1438

Julia Thompson Freeborn County Shopper

373-1310

Justin Oman Security Bank

373-1481

Kathy Sabinish Dave's Phone Booth/Frames-R-Us

377-0848

Jeff Eaton Eaton Sport and Spine

377-1570

Patricia Dahl Mayo Clinic Health

System Albert Lea and Austin 373-2384

Dr. Adenuga Atewologun Riverland Community College

433-0607

Kim Nelson

The Children Center

373-7979

Angie Kolker

Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services

373-6421

Stephanie Haedt Past Chair

Peterson, Savelkoul, Kolker, Haedt & Benda, Ltd. 373-6491

Ron Holtan Realty—Rick Mummert and Craig Hoium

The INTERCHANGE Wine & Coffee Bistro - Lisa

Hanson & Patrick Hanson

Gypsy K Consignment-Katelyn Kehret

Small Street Journal

Page 4

Business Monthly

35th Annual KATE RADIO

Home & Recreation SHOW Friday, March 6th 4pm-8pm

Saturday, March 7th 9 am-4pm

Sunday, March 8th 11am-4pm

Outstanding giveaways daily, fun for the entire

family, over 40 exhibitors indoors, all local car

showroom, great food

*Special appearance from the Easter Bunny 9-11

am

Saturday. Bring the family and your camera

U.S. SENATOR AMY

KLOBUCHAR

INVITES YOU TO ATTEND THE

SUPPORTING OUR SENIORS

STAFF TOUR

Klobuchar’s staff will hold open forums to highlight

resources currently available to assist Minnesota sen-

iors

THURSDAY, MARCH 12TH

ALBERT LEA

1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

City Council Chamber

221 East Clark Street

Albert Lea, MN 56007

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar invites you to attend the

Supporting Our Seniors Forum on Thursday, March 12th

at Albert Lea City Hall.

Senator Klobuchar’s staff will put on the forum to high-

light resources currently available to assist local seniors

with their health and financial needs. There will also be a

discussion about fraud schemes that target seniors and

steps they can take to protect themselves and their finan-

cial security.

Senator Klobuchar’s staff will be joined by representa-

tives from AARP, Area

The forum is free and open to the public.

RSVP REQUESTED BUT NOT REQUIRED

TO MEAGAN BACHMAYER AT 612.280.7126

We look forward to meeting you!

Utilizing a grant from the Statewide Health Improve-

ment Program (SHIP), the Chamber recently purchased

an adjustable desk. Shared between staff members, the

desk allows them to get up out of their chairs.

What's wrong with sitting? The effects of spending too

much time in a chair are manifold. Electrical activity in

leg muscles shuts down; your body effectively stops

burning calories; enzymes that break down fat drop by

90 percent; HDL cholesterol production drops by 20

percent; and the risk of diabetes increases 24 percent.

Other ways to change our positions throughout the day

include standup meetings, taking phone calls while

standing, and putting reminders on our desktops to get

up and move.

Standing Up for Wellness

Business After Hours

Page 5

Business Monthly

Thank you Green Mill Restaurant & Bar

for sponsoring the February Business After

Hours

Quote of the Month

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and

commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a com-

mitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the

success you seek.

Mario Andretti

2015 Business After Hours Schedule

January 2015 - Pantheon Computer Systems

February 2015 - Green Mill

March 2015– Albert Lea Chiropractic

April 2015 - Vern Eide

May 2015 - Accentra Credit Union

June 2015 - Blue Zones Project

July 2015 - St. John’s

August 2015 - American Legion Post #56

September 2015-

October 2015 - MarketPlace Foods

November 20145- Hy-Vee

December 2015 - Albert Lea Tribune

If you are interested in hosting a Business After Hours

Event please call the Chamber Office at: 507-373-3938

We have many organizations that are pleased to announce that

the Otto Bremer Foundation will match any donations given

through GiveMN.org during the month of March. Many organi-

zations can earn up to $100,000 in matching funds. Not only is

each donation doubled during the March Millions Campaign for

Southeastern Minnesota, but donations have the chance to in-

crease by an additional $1000 or $10,000.

From March 1 through March 31, every donation made on

GiveMN.org to will also enter into a daily drawing for a

“Bremer Boost” –a $1000 addition to the donation. On March

31, one donation will be randomly drawn from all March Mil-

lions donations to eligible non-profit organizations to receive a

$10,000 boost.

Here is the link: https://givemn.org/

See Ebiz weekly for a partial listing of local organizations.

The INTERCHANGE Wine & Coffee Bistro

(formerly Prairie Wind) has been named the first Blue

Zones Restaurant in Albert Lea and, in fact, the State

of Minnesota. Above, Lisa Hanson and Patrick Han-

son and members of the Hanson family along with

Ellen Kehr, Organization Lead for the Blue Zones

Project, celebrate the designation by cutting the Blue

Ribbon. Congratulations to the Hansons!

INTERCHANGE Wine & Coffee Bistro

Page 6

Business Monthly

Chamber Offers Job Bank The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce has initiated a webpage dedicated to job openings in our area. To view the job openings, go to www.albertlea.org. If you have positions that you would like posted, please send your available positions to chamberoffice@albertlea.org or call the Chamber for more information.

Chamber Continues to Connect with Membership The Albert Lea/Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to keep up with the times and in an effort to better com-municate with our membership, encourages you to like us on Facebook.

Interested in having an Ambassadors Visit your Office? Has your business experienced a change – such as management changes, relocation or remodel? If your business has experienced any of these changes, please contact Geri at the Chamber Office – 507-373-3938 to schedule an Ambassador visit.

Special Chamber Member Offer

The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber in partnership with Coggno.com, are now offering our member businesses the op-portunity to purchase, through our website, a carefully selected assortment of online training courses that are relevant to your needs. For a limited time, we are offering a coupon code for a 20% discount per class for a month. The code is: alfccoc1 and should be entered at checkout. Go to www.albertlea.org and click on Online Trainings to redeem your coupon and register today!

Video Tours Now Available! Check out the new community video tours on our

website www.albertlea.org These videos would be great tools for businesses to use for employee recruitment!

Member Referral Know someone who isn’t a Chamber Member but who should be? Now there is a reason for you to actively recruit those non-members. Any member who actively recruits and refers a current non-member to our office and that non-member subsequently joins the chamber is eligible for a special prize drawing. Drawings will be held once per quarter from those new members. Prize will be a one night stay in the Country Inn and Suites and a $25 Gift card from Green Mill for both the new member AND the referring member. The Quarterly drawing will take place at Business after Hours.

Page 7

Business Monthly

Chamber Green Committee: The Green Committee met on February 18th. The Thompson Electric video was dis-cussed. Mike is waiting for sample fixtures to use in the video. A very lengthy discussion took place about recycling, and how to help businesses, particularly bars and restaurants understand that they can recycle, have a smaller dumpster, and save money. Use of articles in the Tribune was discussed as well as the use of E-Biz and Business Monthly. The next step for this committee is to focus on business recycling.

The Chamber Worksite Wellness Committee: met on February 20th. Gretchen Bolt of Hilltop Greenhouse & Farm gave a presentation on Hilltop’s Veggie Club and its benefits to businesses. Ellen Kehr reported for Blue Zones that River-land has designated and will hold a celebration on March 10th. Cargill has also designated. The Status Report and Workplan were reviewed. We need to have designations completed no later than the first of June. The soft launch Walking Moai Kick-off went well. There were about 50 people. Let Ellen or Stacy know if you have a walking group. There will be a Purpose Workshop on Monday, March 2nd from 6-8 p.m. at the museum. Alice Englin reported that she will send out the Guide to Healthy Meetings & Events to the committee for review. SHIP is still hoping for funding for another two years and all were urged to talk to their legislators. We need to advocate for SHIP because Alice cannot. A request from the Mayo Patient Family Advisory Committee for new members was passed along to the group. Dani Armbrust reported that the Diabetes Prevention Program is going well. The first class will be held April 13th. Anyone who has been diagnosed as pre-diabetic or has taken the risk assessment and qualifies is eligible for the program. They will be presenting to physicians of the 27th re-garding referrals to the program. New programs can start up at any time. There needs to be 4-5 participants for a class to be formed. They have lifestyle coaches and will train more at the end of April.

The Chamber Governmental Affairs Committee: met on February 12th. John Kluever reported for the County that

the commissioners have been working with the City and School Board on market rate housing tax abatement. This would be 85% for ten years. It will help to fill the funding gap, but not clear it completely. If all three entities agree to the abate-ment, the developers say that they will go ahead with the project. The commissioners continue to discuss a ½ cent sales tax. They have set another workshop for March 10th, with a public listening session on March 17th. It is specific to highway projects. At the March 10th workshop, they will start to identify what projects they would like to cover with the tax. The tax increase should gain the County an estimated $2 million/year. The commissioners also will decide if, once the $2 million is raised, they rescind the tax or continue for long term plans. They will need $40 million for the 10 year plan. They will also consider what to do about the wheelage tax if the sales tax passes. If the increase is approved, it will take about 90 days for the state to be ready. John stated that they are looking at it taking effect at the end of the year. The other options for raising the monies needed for the roads would be a large (10%) increase in property tax or for the State to raise the gas tax by 33 cents. The City Council voted to go ahead with the engineering study for South Broadway. MnDOT is looking at the end of July for the mill and overlay. The community needs to know that this is not about roundabouts. Chad Adams reported that the Council also approved the South Broadway project streetscape elements which are similar to downtown. There will be an informational meeting on March 8 or 9 and then a public hearing. He also reported that a workforce housing bill was intro-duced by Sen. Sparks. The Representative from Mountain Lake is the chief sponsor of the bill in the House. The developer in Albert Lea who was discussed earlier is looking to start grading the property in March or April and Chad is confident that the deal can come together. In the Legislature, there was a hearing in the Senate on the Water Trail. Rep. Bennett introduced the bill in the House. there is legislation requiring independent scientific peer review of MPCA requirements if the cost is more than $50 million. There is also bipartisan support for job training bills.

Business/Education Committee: the Business Education Partnership Committee met on Friday, February 6, 2015 at 8:30 am at the Chamber offices. We welcomed Kathy Niebuhr, AL schools, and Kari Tuma, Wells Fargo, who are new committee members. Child Care Survey: We continue to solicit businesses and individuals to submit their thoughts on their childcare needs. The survey can be found at http://surveygold.com/s/79FABCFF3BE642CD/58.htm.

Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Information Committee Updates

ALHS Update: Tentative date for Career Day is will be in April/May. 8th and 9th grade academies continue. Kim Danner is now a FT Counselor at ALC. Blandin Activities: LPEP activities continue, with the next Community Conversation Feb 23. About 75 people attended the January 27 presentation with Jody Farr. Community members are welcome to attend and get involved. Contact the Chamber for more info. Riverland College update: The Industrial Maintenance program -AL Campus has submitted a grant for some automation. The school is bringing in three new Ag programs-bio/tech and food science-related. RCC and WDI are looking at a partnership to explore Food Processing Academy to educate/train people for that industry. RCC has hired a consultant to work on getting college credits for YA students and also exploring the Auto Tech and Healthcare world. Will also do research for funding opportunities. Community Education updates: welcome to new CE staff, Brittany Voigt. She will be doing Community Education booklets, fliers, and other marketing materials. CE is working on a collaboration of all Pre-Ks in the area to build a common application. They are also exploring a Community Ed kiosk that would be portable to take to mall events, businesses, etc. Youth Apprenticeship program: continues to go well. Students are working and learning. RCC is looking at college credit opportunities for the YA program. There are seven new juniors in the YA class. The District 77 (Mankato) YA rep will be meeting with Val, touring Lou-Rich, meeting with ALHS on Feb. 13. Announcements/Other: Regional Job Fair, planned in partnership between the Albert Lea Tribune and Albert Lea Workforce Center, is tentatively set for Tuesday, April 21, 10 am – 1 pm at the Northbridge Mall. The group dis-cussed employment issues in the community/region, and other upcoming events. The next meeting is Friday, March 6, 2015 8:30 am in the Chamber conference room.

The Chamber Agriculture Committee: Ag Luncheon that will be on March 17th at the Fairlane Building. The Chamber Ambassador Committee: The Ambassador’s are going to be visiting The Children Center, Elite Pet and

Garden and Kay Nail’s.

The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber Board of Directors: met on February 25th. Chad Adams reported for

the City, John Kluever for the County, Jon Murray for the Ambassadors, Susie Petersen for the CVB, and Ryan Nolander for

ALEDA.

Guests Rory Lenten and Annette Hinkle of Minnesota Energy Resources presented to the Board, familiarizing the Board

with the investor owned utility that will be purchasing the natural gas division of Alliant Energy.

Negotiations are taking place with the Carrington Companies on our lease. Board members were encouraged to attend and

speak at the Senate Committee on Transportation & Public Safety public hearing on Friday, February 27th at 10:30 a.m. in

the County Board room at the Government Center. The Ag Luncheon will be held at the Fairlane Building on March 17th.

Noelle Hagen was introduced to the Board as our new Administrative Assistant.

Full Board minutes will be available next month on our website.

Business Monthly

The Annual Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference with over 250 members of the

tourism and hospitality industry gathered together in St. Paul.

Did you know?

Travel and Tourism in Minnesota generates:

$13 billion in leisure & hospitality gross sales

More than $35 million per day

$ 4.5 billion in wages

250,000 full and part-time jobs

$ 840 million in state sales tax Contributing to the economy:

Travel & tourism creates jobs and generates jobs in virtually every county of the state.

Traveler spending indirectly supports jobs in many other industries, as well, from financial services to printing.

The leisure and hospitality industry accounts for 17% of Minnesota’s state sales tax revenues. Impacts of State Tourism Advertising:

3.1 million Minnesota trips

$320.2 million traveler spending

$29.7 million direct state and local taxes

2.0 million additional intended trips in next 12 months

$68 to $1 traveler spending return on ad investment

$6 to $1 state and local tax return on ad investment Traveler expenditures by season:

24% Winter

14% Spring

37% Summer

25% Fall Spending during Minnesota’s 69 million annual person-trips (including overnight and day trips) is distributed throughout the economy:

The daily impact is that travelers in Minnesota spend more than $35 million per day and these dollars circulate widely into

Minnesota’s local and state economies, supporting businesses and amenities that add to Minnesotan’s quality of life.

Locally in Freeborn County, Gross Sales are over $43 million providing a significant revenue source for our restaurants, shopping, lodging, convenience stores and retail business.

Food 23.5% Lodging 21%

Retail 17% Recreation 16%

Transportation 16.5% Second homes 6%

Business Monthly

Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau, Susie Peterson, Executive Director

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Business Monthly

Here’s a line-up of events and happenings in March: Lenten Recitals at Salem Lutheran Church, Sunday, March 8,15 & 22 at 3pm. KATE Home & Recreation Show will be held March 6-8 at Skyline Plaza. Interchange (formerly Prairie Wind Coffee) events: Open Mic Thursday, March 5, 6-8pm; swing dance, Saturday, March 21, 7-11pm. Northbridge Mall events include: Home Base Business Fair, March 6-8; Spring Craft Show, March 13-15 and Volunteer Fair, Saturday, March 21, 11-1pm. The 11th Annual Co-Ed Volleyball Tournament sponsored by Park & Rec will be held March 7 at Albert Lea High School. Lighthouse Event Center presents “Turpentine Wine Concert, Saturday, March 7 at 7:30pm. Marion Ross Performing Arts Center presents Met Live in HD- La Donna del Lago, Saturday, March 14 at 11:55am; Bolshoi Ballet Live in HD – Swan Lake, Sunday, March 15 at 5pm; Bolshoi Ballet Live in HD – Romeo & Juliet, Sunday, March 29 at 5pm. Tigers Roar will be held March 12-14, 7pm at Albert Lea High School Auditorium. Freeborn County Historical Museum Lecture Series presents “Architecture of Freeborn County”, March 14 at 9am. The Annual March Madness Preview Show will be held on March 20-21 at Freeborn County Fairgrounds. The Albert Lea High School presents the following: Band Concert, March 2; Orchestra Concert, March 19; Choir, March 24; All performances are at 7pm. Glenville United Methodist Church will host Goodtime Band Gospel Concert, Sunday, March 29 at 2pm. Fundraiser breakfast events: March 8 & 22- Pancake Breakfast – American Legion – 8-1pm

March 12 – The Rock Spaghetti Dinner – 4:30-7:00pm March 15 – Amaranth Breakfast – Masonic Lodge- 8-1pm Do you have an event to promote? We provide free welcome bags filled with information for any event, meet-ing, tournament, festivals, and class reunions promoting Albert Lea and the surrounding communities! Local businesses are welcome to place a coupon in the bags for visitors which are very much appreciated by the guests. For a complete list of events, please go to www.albertleatourism.org and check out our calendar.

trails. Visit www.albertleatourism.org for a complete listing of events.

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Business Monthly

Minnesota needs thorough – and predictable – environmental review system

By Bill Blazar

Clean air and water contribute significantly to Minnesotans’ quality of life. That’s why Minnesota businesses place a high priority on protecting our environment.

At the same time, we regularly hear concerns about the cost, time and uncertainty in the environ-mental review and permitting system before state agencies. Business owners and managers become frustrated when a process that takes months in other states and countries can extend for years in Minnesota. Seeking additional effi-ciencies and transparency in the process remains one of the Minnesota Chamber’s top legislative initiatives.

We’ve made notable strides in the past four years working with Governor Dayton and the Legislature. For example:

We shortened the environmental permitting timetable to better reflect the actual average time of processing. Permits not requiring a public comment period now have a goal to be completed within 90 days, and those requiring a public comment period within 150 days.

We partnered with and assisted the regulatory agencies to make more of their permits readily available online through “e-permitting.”

We succeeded in shortening appeals of environmental review documents by eliminating a stop before the District Court. In other words, like permits, the appeals go directly to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. We were instrumental in the development of Business One Stop in the Department of Employment and Economic Development to help businesses navigate the process when projects require multiple permits from multiple agencies. Businesses have benefited from these changes. Just as important, the local governments, especially cities, are also among the immediate beneficiaries of our efforts. The permits they need to upgrade their municipal wastewater treatment plants will now be processed with a goal of 150 days. Managing wastewater and storm water is important not only to a community’s health, but it can be a key factor in attracting new businesses and residents.

Make no mistake, Minnesota’s environmental review and permitting system should be second to none. At the same time, we seek a process that enables Minnesota to compete in the global economy. As Governor Dayton has said, our permitting needs to be completed “at the speed of commerce.” Businesses of all sizes and types and local govern-ments need a variety of permits from state agencies if they wish to start/locate and/or expand in Minnesota. The cur-rent process is cumbersome, costly and lacks certainty. That’s why streamlining our systems has been a priority of the Minnesota Chamber for the last decade. As noted, we have made progress, but there’s more work to do.

The 2015 session should bring our next step forward. Among our priorities is further streamlining the processing of Tier 1 permits – for example, permits for sewer extension, individual storm water and construction storm water, and general permits where one permit covers multiple facilities with similar operations. We support decreasing the time-line for these permits, which do not require public hearings now, from 90 days to 45 days. We also are working with local governments to require legislative approval of state agency rules that have a substantial economic impact and require peer review of rules that have significant impact on businesses and local governments.

The challenges facing Minnesota companies are more than a frustration; they present a threat to the state’s economic vitality. Companies routinely compare all costs and regulatory requirements against other states and nations when exploring additional investments. We must take steps to level the playing field if we are to facilitate a changing and growing economy.

Bill Blazar is interim president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Minnesota Chamber Information

Page 12

Business Monthly

Business Monthly

Chamber Staff

Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce 2580 Bridge Ave.

Northbridge Mall Albert Lea, MN 56007 Phone: 507.373.3938 Fax: 507.373.0344

Email: alfccoc@albertlea.org

2013- 2014 Mission Statement: "Promote and develop a healthy and positive

business climate and improve the quality of life in the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Area."

Randy Kehr Executive Director director@albertlea.org Geri Jensen Sr. Administrative Assistant member@albertlea.org Sue Axsmith Exec. Administrative Assistant alfccoc@albertlea.org

Noelle Hagen Administrative Assistant chamberoffice@albertlea.org Check out our Member to Member Discounts Here: http://www.albertlea.org/Discounts.php