Blog Archives

Member Spotlight: The Mustache Cat

3/29/2022

Even B Kyle takes a break occasionally. The Chamber's illustrious leader is out of the office today, so in place of B's Blog, we're reintroducing a new and improved Member Spotlight.

The Chamber cohosted a ribbon-cutting event last week for new member, The Mustache Cat, a new local home goods shop located on Lexington Avenue near Trader Joe's. The Mustache Cat specializes in curated vintage pieces and modern products that help customers tell their story through home décor. With unique and bold home goods that can be mixed with the shopper’s current style, The Mustache Cat makes enhancing your home space more fun and accessible.

Rebecca Sansone, Owner + Product Curator of The Mustache Cat knew joining the Chamber was an important step in getting the word out about her business and getting connected. As an avid networker, she understands the value the Chamber offers.

“Throughout my career, networking has gotten me to where I am today. I’ve never applied for a job, they just kind of happened. Between the people I’ve known and people knowing me and thinking I’d be good at something, whether it was a job within their company or elsewhere, networking has been incredibly impactful throughout my career. Now to join a Chamber with folks that love and appreciate the St. Paul community was just a logical step for me and my business,” Rebecca Sansone, Owner + Product Curator of The Mustache Cat

Rebecca has big plans for The Mustache Cat beyond the storefront. Stop in to check out the shop at 500 Lexington Avenue South in St. Paul and find out more about her plans for the future. You may even see Bernie, the Mustache Cat. You can also follow them on social media instagram.com/TheMustacheCat or facebook.com/TheMustacheCat/.

Member Spotlight shines a light on members new and old. Our membership team of Alyssa Binsfeld and Tong Thao work with Chamber members big and small to introduce them to the benefits of membership and help them engage in our community and help promote their businesses.

B's blog, It's Our Business, will be back next week with thoughts and a quick read on things you should know.

See you in the trenches.

Your Chamber Team

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This Politicking is Unbelievable

3/21/2022

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Last week the Minnesota legislature blew a billion-dollar unemployment fund deadline. I sat down to write a letter to the editor in response, and still continue to struggle with my sense of disbelief. Here is what I said – and would say again today.

"This politicking is unbelievable.

This week, since the Minnesota Legislature failed to make a deal to bring Minnesota’s Unemployment Trust Fund to solvency before the March 15 deadline, a $2.7 billion payroll tax increase went into effect for Minnesota employers.

The state has a $9.25 billion surplus, people. Resources are available.

The March 15 deadline (yes, this WAS the deadline) wasn’t a surprise.

Couldn’t get it done.

The governor committed to refunding the UI Fund by March 15. He included this as the first item in his supplemental budget proposal before the session started, and has maintained that “this needs to get done.” Almost a month ago the Senate approved a bill by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote (55-11) to achieve just that. The House leadership – who, at the Minnesota Chamber’s Annual Session Priorities Dinner back in January, committed to a productive session absent the “politicking” – wants to make the refunding contingent on another completely separate priority.

The merits of supporting frontline workers are not being debated here. There is nonpartisan support for this priority as well. Workers are the only beneficiaries of unemployment benefits – businesses pay in, but they don’t get any money out of the fund. Thousands of laid off workers were able to pay rent and put food on the table during the pandemic because of unemployment benefits.

I’m talking about getting one good thing done at a time, as promised, and according to set deadlines.

It’s that simple.

This politicking is maddening. It’s this approach that deadlocks state government, angers constituents, and makes politicians look bad. Because this kind of gamesmanship continues.

Unbelievable.
The House politicked – on what should be a nonpartisan issue.
And the business owners and workers are paying the price."

See you in the trenches.
B

‘Stealth omicron’ cases on the rise in Minnesota. And public health officials are warning that the United States may see an increase in COVID-19 cases, similar to the latest wave that is taking place in Europe, and that vulnerable people may need another vaccine booster shot, as Moderna has proposed.
Top Biden health adviser Anthony Fauci said the United States could see an increase in COVID-19 cases similar to what's taking place in the United Kingdom and that vulnerable people may need another vaccine booster shot as he and other officials pressed Congress for new funding. (Bloomberg) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the White House should request more than $40 billion in emergency COVID-19 money to pay for emerging needs, roughly twice the size of the Biden administration's initial ask. (The Hill).

St. Paul launches $4.5M tourism recovery grant program: The city will give federal COVID-19 aid to tourism organizations that suffered financial hits during the pandemic. Businesses and nonprofits can apply for a grant. But there are stipulations and a March 28 deadline.
On March 15, Greater MSP on behalf of our region submitted its proposal for the U.S. Economic Development Administration's Build Back Better Regional Challenge. Our bid was put together by a coalition of more than 60 partner organizations, organized by Greater MSP, and driven by a team of seven component-project leaders. This coalition initially came together in 2021 to compete against more than 500 other regions. After making the short list of 60 regions competing for EDA funding in December, the coalition then set out to assemble what we believe is one of the nation’s most competitive proposals. We will hear back from the EDA in April, and know by September if we are one of the 20-30 awarded regions. As part of this application, Greater MSP wrote a narrative document that makes the case for the Bold North BioInnovation Cluster.
Mortgage rates rose above 4% for the first time in nearly three years, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.16 percent this week compared to 3.85 percent in the prior week. Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, said that mortgage rates are likely to keep rising throughout the year after the Federal Reserve signaled additional interest rate increases. (CNN).
Update from the Minneapolis Fed on inflation and monetary policy. I appreciate Neel Kashkari’s article here, which starts with acknowledgement: “When inflation accelerated last year, I argued that it was likely due to transitory factors which would soon pass. That hasn’t happened. This essay lays out the basic arguments I made then, the data that has come since, what I got wrong, and the potential implications for monetary policy going forward.” Included are updated predictions for inflation in 2022 (4.5%), and recognition of actual inflation for 2021 that was significantly higher than projected.

Federal:

The Senate Judiciary Committee multiday confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court, began Monday at 11 a.m.

State:

New plan for surplus includes bigger tax rebate checks: Gov. Tim Walz last Thursday called for spending more of the state's record-breaking projected budget surplus on public health, a financial boost for some retirees and bigger tax rebate checks for millions of Minnesotans.

Regional

St. Paul to hire new police officers with federal grant: St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter last Thursday announced that he will hire 80 new police officers in 2022, months after Chief Todd Axtell urged city leaders to bolster staffing in a department that he’s described as increasingly stretched thin.
St. Paul budgets $635K for rent-control staff: St. Paul city officials on Wednesday unveiled a proposal that would provide five full-time employees and funding to administer the rent-control ordinance passed by voters in November. But as the policy's May 1 effective date looms, many uncertainties remain for St. Paul tenants and landlords.

Read more updates in our weekly Chamber Advocacy Update.

DEED names Marc Majors as Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development.
Last week, International Women’s Day, celebrate #WomenInTech who #BreakTheBias! Here are stories of innovative women in the City of Saint Paul.
Events ahead for the St. Paul Area Chamber: Join us!
- Transportation and Transit Update, Roseville Business Council, March 23
- Cybersecurity in the Modern Age, Business Education Series, April 7
- 2022 Equity Leadership Series, Session 2, April 20

From the Fed: Amid labor shortages, child care shapes parents’ employment choices in the Ninth District. This as the child care industry faces increased pressures through the pandemic. And Itasca Project calls for solutions in new report.

How occupational licensing limits access to jobs among workers of color. Nearly 1 in every 4 workers across the labor force has obtained a license, requiring substantial investments of time and money. And workers of color are much less likely to be licensed.
Congratulations to Minnesota companies selected for the Most Ethical Companies list: 3M, Allianz Life, Best Buy, Ecolab, Thrivent, U.S. Bank, and Xcel Energy.

Minnesota sees an increase in construction projects during the pandemic.
Hillcrest Golf Course is now 'the Heights': The new name for the 112-acre site was selected by a team of East Side residents who reviewed dozens of suggestions submitted online, the St. Paul Port Authority announced last Tuesday. Apart from the name, here's the latest on what the neighborhood could expect in the new space. Here’s a fun video.
Two months into the year, sellers remain in control of Twin Cities housing market: In Feb, sellers listed 4,427 properties, 7.3% fewer than the same time last year, according to a monthly report from the Minneapolis Area Realtors and St. Paul Area Association of Realtors.

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Tragic Optimism

3/14/2022

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In the face of the unfurling war in Ukraine and continuing domestic economic challenges, sleepless nights and growing cynicism can be corrosive. The BBC and The Atlantic both wrote pieces last fall about “tragic optimism”: how to stay out of the ditch when anxiety continues to swirl around us. At an even deeper level, Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl wrote about this as well. We can choose to incorporate gratefulness into our daily thinking. If Frankl is correct, we can have optimism in the face of tragedy – to find connection and purpose.

With that frame of mind, today is a feel-good day. Anybody else forget to set their clocks ahead on Saturday night? I started out aggravated but that ended quickly because Sunday proved to be beautiful and the week ahead promises to be even more so.

Last Wednesday was a great day, too – for several reasons. Our Lunch With Leaders event featured 3 “regular-but-powerful” women who are leading: Kenya McKnight-Ahad, Founder/President of Black Women’s Wealth Alliance; Major General Johanna Clyborne, Minnesota’s Assistant Adjutant General (and Minnesota’s first female 2-star general); and Lara Juras, VP and Director of Culture and People with the Minnesota Vikings. Metro State’s Great Hall was packed and attendees captivated by their comments. We all could have sat there much longer, hearing the stories of regular women doing extraordinary things. Just one of the comments I received after the event: “I want you to know that today was one of the best panels events I have attended in a very long time. The panelists were authentic, the questions superb and the dialog, invaluable. Thank you for your efforts!”

Also on Wednesday, we honored two organizations with our Celebrate Business Success and Celebrate Service awards:

The Buttered Tin, winner of Celebrate Business Success award: we’ve been recognizing companies with this award since 2006, and we were especially delighted to recognize The Buttered Tin – a dynamite woman-owned business celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. They recently expanded from their St. Paul location across the river to add a Minneapolis location, and you can order their cakes for delivery now! The bakery’s founder is James Beard-recognized chef and Cupcake Wars winner Alicia Hinze. Alicia is also very community minded – during Covid-19, she and her staff set up a way for people to donate and send breakfast to frontline workers.

Metro State University, winner of Celebrate Service award: new this year, this award recognized Metro State University. And it’s also led by a woman – President Virginia Arthur. For over 50 years, Metro State has been a community partner, whose impact has been uniquely extraordinary in terms of social mobility for its students. Metro State is an urban university, uniquely designed to meet the needs of adult learners in the region.Most fascinating to me as a measure of their impact is the Social Mobility index, which measures where students enter a school in terms of their economic standing and then, 5 years after graduation. Metro State ranks 39th nationally and #1 in Minnesota. Further, 85% of alums live and work and pay taxes in Minnesota. That translates to over $4B in taxes across its 50K alums.

Other news to share:

A great introduction: this month’s B’s Table Talk guest is Troy Blizzard, VP and General Manager for Mortenson. He walks us through his journey to authentic leadership and his 5 points to developing as a leader. A worthy conversation!

A great award, well-earned: MSP International Airport is back on top: best-in-class again for 2022! And rebound continues. In 2021, served nearly 70% more passengers in 2021 than 2020. A full return is still pending, however, in 2021 serving approximately 64% of the passengers served in the record high year of 2019.
A great win to celebrate: State Hockey tournament: Andover claims its first title in 6-5 Overtime thriller vs Maple Grove, at the Xcel Energy Center on Saturday. Imagine, both teams’ first time playing for the championships, two overtimes. Amazing! In Class A, Hermantown beat Warroad for its 4th Class A title.
A great day - St. Patrick’s Day – is ahead and promises to be a beautiful day! Check out the website www.stpatsmn.org for a full listing of 2022 events!
A demonstration of greatness: according to Axios, America was the world’s most generous country this past decade – and that generosity grew during the pandemic. Cutting across religion, region and age, nearly 60^ of us gave money last year; 72% help strangers; and 42% of us volunteer.

And, yes my friends, Saint Paul’s businesses, large and small, are coming back!

See you in the trenches.
B

St. Paul no longer requires masks in city-operated buildings: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul's Melvin Carter lifted mask mandates for municipal buildings Thursday as the rate of COVID-19 infections in the Twin Cities continued its rapid decline. Read more of what Carter had to say on the decision here.
Minnesota's 2021 death toll well above expected total despite vaccine: The year of COVID-19 vaccines was still a deadly one in Minnesota, with deaths from all causes in 2021 more than 15% higher than expected — mostly because of the pandemic and drug abuse. The Star Tribune breaks down the data here.
According to the Mayo Clinic: COVID-19 is heading towards an endemic.”

The Senate voted 68-31 to send Biden a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending measure, which includes nearly $15 billion in aid for Ukraine, that will fund the federal government through September. To be sure the government doesn't shut down at midnight as the legislation makes its way through the enrollment process, lawmakers also passed a four-day continuing resolution. (Roll Call) Enough said – took too long.
The Federal Open Market Committee meeting you've been waiting for is finally here. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other central bank officials have long indicated that they'll raise interest rates for the first time since 2018 during the two-day summit, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect a rate increase of 1.25 percent this year, spread out over four projected hikes. We'll be watching to see if Russia's invasion of Ukraine alters any of that thinking.
The State of Travel and Hospitality, Q1 2022: With omicron in the rearview mirror and confirmed cases falling in most key regions, travel and hospitality brands can look forward to a bustling 2022.
Minnesota added 10K jobs in January, and unemployment drops below 3%.
The rising cost of energy, food and services pushed the United States' inflation rate to 7.9% last month, the highest point since 1982 when the country was in a recession. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she expects to "see further evidence of an impact" due to Russia's war in Ukraine, suggesting consumer prices will go even higher in this election year.

State:

A bill that rolls back the ability for municipalities to enact rent control passed a Senate committee, but isn’t likely to become law.
Minnesota lawmakers are weighing a bill that would allow the creation of local Tourism Improvement Districts (TID) funded by service fees levied on lodging businesses to help an industry hit hard by the pandemic’s travel drought.
Lawmakers remain divided over plan to replenish unemployment insurance trust fund. The deadline is Tuesday, when bills to employers are scheduled to go out. Democrats want to include bonuses for frontline workers, which is proving harder to advance on its own.
Governor Tim Walz joins other governors in calling for a suspension of the federal gas tax for the balance of 2022. This represents 18 cents per gallon.

Regional

Minneapolis, St. Paul consider next steps in rent control. The Chamber PA team is continuing to monitor the Mayor’s rent control stakeholder group meetings that are being live-streamed. The first couple of meetings focused on organization and level-setting the subject. The third meeting focused on a discussion of program design options, as a way to highlight historical rent control policies.
Bill Lindeke, MinnPost: Column: In first months since passage of St. Paul’s rent-control ordinance, housing construction is way down.

Read more updates in our weekly Chamber Advocacy Update.

MSPBJ’s 2022 40 Under 40: it’s a great group and, after a 2-year hiatus, especially welcome! Of special note within your Chamber’s membership are: Chris Brink, Ryan Cos. US Inc.; Randy Dehmer, Canterbury Park Holding Corp.; Chris Duffy, Goff Public; Jazz Hampton, TurnSignl; Michele Henry, Face Foundrié; Roger Maldonado, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath; Tory Schalkle, U.S. Bancorp; Jorie Soskin, Medtronic; Sydney Wittmier, M.A. Mortenson Co.
The Minnesota Hmong Chamber of Commerce (MHCC) is hosting their 1st Annual Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Small Business Expo on May 14 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Metropolitan State University presented by Wells Fargo. The day is packed with speakers, business training workshops, job fair/resource fair, networking, and panel discussions. Come be a part of the event as a partner, sponsor, business owner, professional, student, or connector. Click the link here to learn more about partnership, sponsorship, and registration: https://aapibusinessexpo.com/.
2022 Equity Leadership Series, presented by Bremer Bank, kicks off on March 16. Facilitated again this year by Anika Ward of Sankofa Leadership Network. Register here!

With March ushering in Women’s History Month, it’s especially appropriate to highlight 7 lessons from exceptional women leaders. Starting with PepsiCo’s CEO, Indra Nooyi’s, thoughts: “leadership is hard to define and good leadership is harder, but if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader.”

According to Gallup, Six in 10 Americans are satisfied with the position of women in the U.S., which is similar to what Gallup has found over the past 4 years but well below the average of 71% from 2001-2008. Not surprising, women are less satisfied than are men in this poll, by a relatively unchanged “10% gender gap.”
Immigration: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to meet this week with Mexican officials as the Biden administration looks to end the Trump administration-era policy of expelling immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and denying asylum as a way to contain the coronavirus.
- Why it's worth watching: A draft document obtained by BuzzFeed News says a return to pre-pandemic practices at the border could "seriously strain" border resources and lead to a challenging humanitarian situation in the region, threatening to push immigration back into the headlines in the coming weeks.

Colder Products is expanding its Twin Cities manufacturing footprint again: the Roseville-based company just began work on the build-out of a 168K SF facility it’s leasing in Arden Hills, where it plans to employ 500 people by its opening this fall.
Bloomington City Council has approved aid for Mall of America water park: construction could start this summer. $422M project, $110M of that will come from public funding (including $55M in TIF).
Twin Cities retail sector sees lowest vacancy in Upper Midwest. Surprised? I was. 3.4% vacancy, according to a recently published 2022 Retail Investment Forecast by Marcus & Millichap.

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What Are the Top Priorities for Small Business?

3/7/2022

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I spend a lot of my time talking to business leaders, of both large and small organizations. And I ask them: what are you worrying about, what are you prioritizing for the year ahead? Here is what they are telling me:

For the vast majority, public safety continues to be their #1 concern. Employers want to welcome employees back; public safety concerns are seriously interrupting that. One employer said, “if people don’t feel safe to come back to the office, we are in big trouble.” Another: “we recognize the need for a strong downtown core. How we do it is as important as what we do. If employees have a choice to come back downtown, safety issues are key.”

Their #2 concern is talent attraction and retention. Companies are telling me they are at all-time highs in terms of open positions. And several have told me stories of losing employees to virtual positions with companies located out of state.

Other concerns continue to be:

Ongoing supply chain challenges
how to transition to this “next normal” in the work environment (no clear consensus on work schedules – they vary widely!)
workplace culture – how to balance between collaboration and flexibility
investing in digital tools and skills

This article also communicates small business worries: inflation and rising costs. 33% of small business owners now rank inflation as the biggest challenge for the small business community. 85% of them say they are concerned about its impact on their own business.

If your concerns are different, let me know. I keep track and share with local and state leaders. Your input is valuable!

A pause for our colleague and friend, Cat McNerlin, who passed away March 29, 2021. It’s her birthday today, she would have been 52 years old. Cat was famous for her Wonder Woman mugs, signs, posture. And she also would have reminded us that today is National Cereal Day. I wore my Wonder Woman t-shirt to honor her today, our team laughed and sighed together at our team meeting as we thought about her. Cheers to Cat; she is missed.
Wild beat the Flyers, ended a 4-game losing streak. Woot!

See you in the trenches.
B

Yes, folks, it’s been 2 years since Minnesota recorded its first case of COVID-19. How are we doing? “COVID-19 remains one step ahead.”
Worldwide, the death toll has surpassed 6M for the pandemic, now in its 3rd year.

The effect of the pandemic on retail and e-commerce: total sales up 19.3% in 2021 over 2020, despite the headwinds of inflation and supply chain challenges. Much of it was online, which will drive even more emphasis for brick and mortar businesses to differentiate themselves. Read Morning Consult’s State of Retail and E-Commerce, Q1 2022 Report for more.
According to AAA, U.S. gas prices nationally reached a 14-year high, up to $4/gallon as of Sunday (the highest since July of 2008). And the Biden Administration is discussing with our allies the possibility of a ban on Russian oil imports.
Inflation is likely to get worse after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell noting in his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last week that the war will increase energy and transportation costs. What to keep an eye on: The Biden administration's moves to combat inflation. Officials are reportedly considering a ban on Russian oil to punish Russia, but the administration is first weighing whether the move could backfire and hurt American consumers via higher U.S. gasoline prices.

Public Safety:

Both St. Paul and Minneapolis are beginning the process of finding new police chiefs. I wish them all the best for this challenging task. In St. Paul specifically, I can say that Chief Axtell’s shoes will be hard to fill. We will continue to track the progress.
Your Chamber is continuing to host public safety listening sessions. Please join us to voice your experience, and share these opportunities with other St. Paul businesses within your networks.

Federal:

Lawmakers face a Friday deadline to pass legislation to avoid a government shutdown, with the White House pressing lawmakers to include a last-minute request for $10 billion in emergency military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine and Eastern Europe following Russia's invasion as well as $22.5 billion to pay for the government's COVID-19 response.

State:

Refunding the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is a top priority of business to avoid an increase by March 15. Still not done.
Hospitality Recovery Grants: on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., the Senate Jobs and Economic Growth Finance and Policy Committee, chaired by Senator Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake), is scheduled to hear Senate File 2695. This legislation, authored by Senator Matt Klein (DFL-Mendota Heights), appropriates $2.8 million from the state’s fiscal recovery fund to the Department of Employment and Economic Development for hospitality recovery grants. Under this proposal, eligible hospitality businesses could receive up to $10,000 from the state to address adverse effects to their business related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Priority in awarding grants would be given to businesses that have not previously received any COVID-19-related state or local grants or aid, with the exception of the small business relief grants passed by the legislature in December of 2020. The grants may be used for business operations, payroll, rent or mortgage, utilities, and other business-related expenses.

Regional

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter appeared before the state Senate Housing Finance and Policy Committee last Thursday to answer questions about rent control, as he oversees implementing one of the most stringent policies in the country and the only one in the Midwest.
Issue Forum on SPARK Property Tax Campaign: Join us on Tuesday, March 22 to hear from members of the SPARK coalition who are promoting a property tax referendum to raise dedicated funds for early childhood education. Speakers will include Rebecca Noecker, Tim FunkMeyer, and Art Rolnick. Tuesday, March 22 4:00-5:00PM. RSVP here for the Zoom link.

Read more updates in our weekly Chamber Advocacy Update.

Have you heard? Congratulations to Roseville! Their Roseville in Bloom campaign was awarded the statewide Marketing Campaign of the Year by Explore Minnesota. Inspired by the famous Peanuts characters found around St. Paul, the display called on 20 local and regional artists to bring their paintings to life on rose statues around town. Check out their website, www.rosevilleinbloom.com for additional details.
March is Women’s History Month. Join us on March 9 for Lunch with Leaders, featuring mavericks: Kenya McKnight-Ahad, Founder/President of Black Women’s Wealth Alliance; Major General Johanna Clyborne, Assistant Adjutant General; and Lara Juras, Executive Vice President of the Minnesota Vikings. Register here by noon!
It's that time again: Minnesota Manufacturing Awards, hosted by the MSPBJ. Also, if you could promote the nominations in your network, that would be wonderful.

How do you hold remote teams accountable? Patrick Lencioni talks about accountability, how a fear of conflict can interfere, and how to build trust – even through Zoom and emails.

Our 2022 Equity Leadership Series, presented by Bremer Bank, kicks off on March 16. Facilitated again this year by Anika Ward of Sankofa Leadership Network. Register here. We are keeping this virtual because so many of you are inviting colleagues from outside this market to participate. Do join us!

On Friday the St. Paul Planning Commission held a public hearing on Hillcrest’s proposed master plan. Opposition seems to be centered around “keeping the area quiet.” Here’s hoping the community ultimately welcomes the energy and increased vitality the project will bring to the East Side.

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