Over the past several weeks I’ve had the chance to travel across Minnesota with members of the Minnesota House Greater Minnesota Economic and Workforce Development Policy Committee to learn about issues that local businesses, government officials and economic leaders are facing and hear how the legislature can help solve these problems.

We recently stopped in Albert Lea and had a chance to visit Mrs. Gerry’s, a community staple and great Minnesota success story. Your area representative, Peggy Bennett, was helpful in setting up this meeting, and it was wonderful to hear from folks in your community.

Albert Lea residents are fortunate to have Peggy Bennett working hard to improve workforce development in southern Minnesota. Next session, our committee will begin addressing this topic by looking at job training programs and other strategies we can use to ensure that workers have the skills they need to fill good-paying jobs that are currently vacant. We will also work with our colleagues on ways to eliminate red tape and overly-burdensome regulations that could hurt job growth and prevent new opportunities in rural areas.

My thanks to the area leaders who met with our committee recently, and to Rep. Bennett not only for the invitation to visit your community, but also for her leadership and work to be a strong voice for southern Minnesota.

 

Bob Gunther

chairman

Minnesota House Greater Minnesota Economic and Workforce Development Policy Committee