First off, our PAC endorsement process is wrapping up, and we’ll be announcing our endorsed candidates within the coming weeks. The MN Chamber’s Leadership Fund PAC has concluded its work for the 2026 election cycle. Linked here are their House and Senate endorsements. Also, for your own education, please refer to our East Metro Voter Guide for East Metro candidate information. 
 
Last week the Saint Paul City Council's Policy Committee included a presentation on minimum tobacco pricing—a proposal that, stripped to its essentials, amounts to government-imposed price controls. Our objection is the same one we've made regarding rent "stabilization": government-mandated price controls are a poor substitute for sound public policy. Good intentions don't exempt bad economics, and Saint Paul can ill afford policies that reduce revenue while searching for ways to grow its tax base. As a friend said last week, "even if you don't like gravity, it's still there."
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The City also released and Council began the process to adopt a proposed overhaul of its franchise fee structure. For commercial and industrial customers already weighing where to invest, expand, or locate, another layer of increased cost sends the wrong signal. If Saint Paul is serious about being "open for business," our policies should reinforce that message—not undercut it. The City Council will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, September 16th during the regular council meeting.  

Policy choices matter. They determine whether cranes continue to dot our skyline, whether vacant storefronts become thriving businesses, and whether employers choose to invest in Saint Paul or somewhere else. Cities don't simply grow because they hope to; they grow because they create an environment where investment is welcomed and success is possible.

See you in the trenches,
 B

On Tuesday of this week, the St. Paul Area Chamber Board voted to affirm its support for a new approach to strengthen business advocacy, member services, and economic vibrancy in St. Paul, the East Metro, and the Twin Cities region.
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The Board is aligned around the opportunity ahead: building on the momentum across St. Paul and our region, strengthening St. Paul's distinct voice, and expanding collaboration to create even greater impact. The work now is to refine the best path forward and take the time to get it right.​

To support that work, the Board will establish a special committee to further develop the strategy. By year-end, the committee will present recommendations to the SPAC Board addressing financial projections, governance, operational assumptions, strategic priorities, and an approach to local and regional advocacy.

We share a commitment to better outcomes for businesses, members, and the communities we serve. By continuing to work together, we are on the right path to strengthen our chamber, advance regional growth, and create an even stronger future for St. Paul and the Twin Cities. The momentum is real, and the opportunity ahead is significant.

To our partners, members, and friends, be encouraged: together, we can build on our shared progress and create even greater impact in the years ahead. More to come!

See you in the trenches, 
B

Last week I told you about the Board's vote on a joint venture with our Minneapolis counterparts — a new regional chamber built to advocate for Saint Paul's priorities while giving our whole region a stronger, unified voice. I also told you that the healthy disagreement surfacing around this decision isn't a red flag - it is a sign of your Chamber doing this the right way.
 
Also last week, that principle got tested. And I'm glad to report we passed.
 
The vote was delayed briefly — not shelved, not stalled — so we could sit down with a few more civic leaders before the Board finalizes its decision. Rather than treating such conversations as friction to push through, your Board treated it as exactly the kind of input this process was built to welcome. We said that receiving different viewpoints is how we get this right. This extra time is us proving we meant it.
 
A few things I want to be clear about:

• The priority hasn't changed. The case for a unified regional chamber — grounded in Mayor Her's own call for growth, in what 59% of chambers nationally are already exploring, and in what even peer "split" regions like Kansas City have shown is possible — is the same case it was last week.
• The timeline has changed slightly, and that's fine. Eighteen months of work doesn't get undone by more listening. If anything, a decision this consequential for Saint Paul's business community deserves the fullest possible airing before it's final.

 
I'll be honest: momentum matters, and every organization that's walked this road before us will tell you the temptation is to rush the vote once you've built consensus, because consensus is fragile and time is not your friend. We're choosing to resist that temptation. A regional chamber built to last needs a foundation that includes the people who'll be asked to stand on it.
 
So, here's what I'm asking this week: stay engaged, stay patient. Additional input is not a threat. It's how we make sure the outcome is right.
 
See you in the trenches,
B

Last week, I gave you a heads-up about the upcoming Board vote: a proposal to create a joint venture, a new chamber organization, built to honor the priorities of our capital city while harnessing our strength for the full-throated regional advocacy and business development we need to compete. If you saw this past weekend’s Pioneer Press article, St. Paul, Minneapolis chambers of commerce weigh uniting operations, and the subsequent Star Tribune article, After a year of upheaval, Minnesota business organizations regroup to address economic slide, you already know the headlines. I want to give you the substance behind them. 
 
The timing wasn’t planned, but it couldn’t be more on point - Mayor Her’s budget address last week said it plainly: 

• “Our best strategy is economic growth. We must create the conditions for new residents, industry, entrepreneurs, development.” Your Chamber agrees.
• Her goal is “a city with stronger finances, well maintained assets, and a structure prepared for the future.” That’s the frame we’re using too.  
• Ultimately, the city “can’t cut our way to long term sustainability.” Neither can your Chamber. 

 
A unified regional chamber model has been contemplated multiple times in years past. So we have history pushing us to get this right.  Over the past 18 months your Board – a genuinely thoughtful, thorough group carrying on a long legacy of strong chamber leadership – has done a deep dive into what this would mean for our individual chambers and our region as a whole. We surveyed you, our membership, and you overwhelmingly expressed support for this venture. I’ve personally spent significant time with chamber leaders around the country who already have made this transition, learning what worked, what didn’t, and folding that into our plan. The numbers back up the direction: 59% of chambers nationwide are exploring – or have completed – this very thing.
 
Look at the map, and the pattern is even clearer. Of the top 20 metro areas in the country, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region (#16) is one of only a handful that hasn’t organized its chamber voice regionally. And other “split” regions, including Kansas City, Albany-Schenectady NY, and Norfolk-Virgina Beach, VA have found ways to move forward together without losing their local identities. Being the “Twin Cities” doesn’t exempt us from needing one, coordinated, competitive voice on key issues. Greater MSP was built 15 years ago on that same premise. Today, a unified regional chamber is the next step in delivering it – again, providing we can maintain our connection to the ground as well.
 
And one comment on the animated discussions underway this month: embrace them! Minnesota Nice aside, disagreement is a sign of strength - not a warning sign. I appreciate – genuinely – the depth and range of perspectives coming from members, current and former leaders, all who care deeply about Saint Paul’s future. Many of them are the same people who shepherded us to this moment of opportunity. That honest, sometimes uncomfortable exchange is exactly what has kept our city, this Chamber, resilient for generations. It’s not a red flag. It’s how we get this right.

My ask is that we continue to stand together. Please reach out to me directly with your questions and suggestions – to ensure your voice continues to be heard. I look forward to continued service to you, to our capital city of Saint Paul, and to our prosperous future.
 
See you in the trenches, 
 
B