Schedule
Thursday, September 29
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Lunch
Welcome
B Kyle
President and CEO, St. Paul Area Chamber
Jeanne Crain
President and CEO, Bremer Bank
Keynote Address
Chief Todd Axtell (Retired)
President and CEO, The Axtell Group
Awards Presentation
Welcome
B Kyle
President and CEO, St. Paul Area Chamber
Jeanne Crain
President and CEO, Bremer Bank
Keynote Address
Chief Todd Axtell (Retired)
President and CEO, The Axtell Group
Awards Presentation
Keynote Address: Todd Axtell
Todd Axtell is co-founder, president and CEO of The Axtell Group.
Prior to launching the company, he dedicated more than three decades of his professional life to public service, including 33 years with the Saint Paul Police Department, including six as Chief of Police for Minnesota’s capital city.
Throughout his career, Axtell has championed trust, transparency, community engagement, diversity and the highest levels of accountability. He and the team he surrounded himself with are credited with helping make the Saint Paul Police Department a model of excellence that is emulated and admired throughout the state and country.
During his tenure at the helm of the agency, Axtell assembled a diverse leadership team; instituted innovative training programs focused on ethical policing, moral courage, de-escalation and officer wellness; and led successful efforts to increase the diversity of law enforcement professionals through novel recruitment programs. He made community engagement and increasing diversity top priorities--and achieved both. Under his leadership, the Saint Paul Police Department connected with its community at historic levels and saw a 41 percent increase in the number of diverse employees.
Axtell and his team also conducted a top-to-bottom review of policies and procedures, instituted practices that resulted in officers using lower levels of force than ever before, reduced civil payouts to record lows, and publicly shared more data than ever.
His accomplishments garnered local, state and national attention. June 1, 2022, was "Chief Todd Axtell Day" in both the City of Saint Paul and the State of Minnesota.
Axtell lives in Saint Paul, Minn., with his wife.
Prior to launching the company, he dedicated more than three decades of his professional life to public service, including 33 years with the Saint Paul Police Department, including six as Chief of Police for Minnesota’s capital city.
Throughout his career, Axtell has championed trust, transparency, community engagement, diversity and the highest levels of accountability. He and the team he surrounded himself with are credited with helping make the Saint Paul Police Department a model of excellence that is emulated and admired throughout the state and country.
During his tenure at the helm of the agency, Axtell assembled a diverse leadership team; instituted innovative training programs focused on ethical policing, moral courage, de-escalation and officer wellness; and led successful efforts to increase the diversity of law enforcement professionals through novel recruitment programs. He made community engagement and increasing diversity top priorities--and achieved both. Under his leadership, the Saint Paul Police Department connected with its community at historic levels and saw a 41 percent increase in the number of diverse employees.
Axtell and his team also conducted a top-to-bottom review of policies and procedures, instituted practices that resulted in officers using lower levels of force than ever before, reduced civil payouts to record lows, and publicly shared more data than ever.
His accomplishments garnered local, state and national attention. June 1, 2022, was "Chief Todd Axtell Day" in both the City of Saint Paul and the State of Minnesota.
Axtell lives in Saint Paul, Minn., with his wife.
Business Retention and Expansion:
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City of Maplewood Community Development
The City of Maplewood has successfully implemented their Business Retention Expansion & Attraction program for more than five years. As part of the BREA program, they engage in 15 visits annually throughout the city to help bridge relationships and create a dialogue to address both concerns and successes in the area. More than 50 business visits have taken place during this time with small mom and pop shops to large companies with employee counts of more than 1000 and a variety of industry sectors. The city is dedicated to learning from these businesses to continue to help improve their communication, public safety, livability, and growth. There are endless opportunities in Maplewood.
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Roseville Economic Development Authority
The Roseville Economic Development Authority (REDA) sought to support recovery efforts of Roseville businesses from the economic impacts of the pandemic. In 2021, they decided to use American Rescue Plan funds to support direct outreach to small businesses with social media, website review, recruiting efforts and marketing. Priority was given to identifying and engaging BIPOC business owners. The campaign was a huge success and provided one-on-one interactions with small businesses by getting them to join the campaign so they can benefit from the marketing and advertising efforts through the end of 2022.
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Communications and Marketing
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City of Farmington
This year Farmington is celebrating 150 years with a campaign working with residents and local businesses to highlight Farmington over the years. It included a display at City Hall of artifacts, photos and historical items. The campaign carried over into the local Farmington Currents newsletter mailed to resident homes, the city’s new Farmington Feed podcast and social media channels. KSTP also featured Dakota Heritage Village on what it was like to live there 100 years ago. This campaign was a great way to honor the proud past while also celebrating Farmington’s promising future.
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St. Paul Port Authority
The Saint Paul Port Authority created and led community outreach efforts for the Heights redevelopment. Outreach efforts went well beyond participating in the City's Master Plan and keeping District 2 members up to date. The efforts resulted in meaningful engagement, including neighborhood canvassing, facilitated focus groups, topic specific multi-session workgroups, and seven community engagement meetings in partnership with District 2 and St. Paul City Councilmember Yang’s office.
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Innovation
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City of Eagan
Minnesota GreenStep Cities is a voluntary challenge and assistance program that recognizes communities that set, achieve and continue certain sustainability goals. In 2022, the City received the program’s highest “step” rating for environmental sustainability. Eagan’s actions have included increasing the use of LED lighting at City facilities, in street lighting and elsewhere; improving the fuel efficiency of the City’s vehicle fleet; improving energy efficiency at City properties; managing the city’s tree canopy; caring for water resources and more.
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City of New Brighton Parks and Recreation
Over the past two years the City of New Brighton created new and innovative programs such as the Chalk Walk Festival, Tails on the Trails, Pumpkin Walk and the popular Gnome Hunts. They have also been a home to the Ice Castles, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to the area in the cold of winter.
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Dakota County Workforce Mobility Program
A collaboration between Dakota County, CareerForce Centers, Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College, the Workforce Mobility Program provides free credit and noncredit training that aligns with area workforce needs. Training is offered in high demand fields including transportation, healthcare, childcare, and manufacturing. Interest in the program has been high, with over 200 applications in less than four months. This program is credited for enhancing support for underserved communities, filling critical sector jobs, providing upskilling opportunities, providing low-risk access to post-secondary education, and building capacity for collaboration between the public and private sectors.
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Planning, Land Use and Public Works
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City of Maplewood Parks and Natural Resources
The City of Maplewood Parks and Natural Resources Department has undertaken an innovative program to control invasive species without the heavy use of pesticides. With the assistance of a herd of hungry goats, the City cleared nine acres of buckthorn surrounding City Hall. The landscape will be replaced with a pollinator habitat of native plant species. This innovative solution will also increase storm water infiltration and address climate change, which is a priority of the city of Maplewood.
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St. Paul Parks and Recreation
St. Paul Parks and Recreation’s work at the Highland Bridge development aligned site conditions, connected existing parks and integrated community desires for the City’s first skate trail, and dedicated pickleball courts. The design manages stormwater and visually connects people to water as it enters the Mississippi River and Hidden Falls. Parks and Rec staff led the naming process for the four new parks, including Unci Makhá and Mica (significant to the Dakota, while also honoring the labor union history of the land).
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Public Safety
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Dakota County Sheriff's Office
The Dakota County Sheriff's Office has been out front on many public safety initiatives under the leadership of Sheriff Tim Leslie. In 2018, the Dakota County Sheriff's Office proposed building a regional training center to train first responders in crisis response and de-escalation. As the number and danger of crisis and mental health calls increase, it is imperative that first responders are trained in the soft skills to arrive at safe outcomes. Dakota County received state bonding to support the project. The first of its kind SMART Center in Inver Grove Heights opened in September 2021.
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Rosemount Police Department
Coronary disease is the leading cause of death for police officers. After two former Rosemount Police Department sergeants passed away from sudden heart attacks, both within five years of serving their final shifts, the department began looking into what could be done to challenge the statistics. They ensured all officers on staff can undergo a proactive health assessment. They received donations from local businesses to make sure those assessments are paid for in the future. Further, they partnered with a local gym to make sure officers can work out during their shifts.
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St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections
The City of St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI) has been innovative and strategic in improving public safety by increasing efforts to help unsheltered individuals. DSI works closely with SPPD and many local organizations to identify areas of need throughout the city. The City saw a large increase of unsheltered camps in St. Paul during COVID. DSI was able to help unsheltered individuals find a place to stay when MN was experiencing below zero-degree weather. DSI also helped individuals secure resources such as food, clothes, and basic hygienic needs. As a result, businesses and residents have noticed less unsheltered camps around the city.
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Rising Star
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Carlo Franco, St. Paul Parks and Recreation
Carlo Franco works for St. Paul Parks and Recreation as Youth Engagement and Training Manager, where he is responsible for recruitment and training of the Right Track Youth Employment program. He coordinated a school credit initiative with St. Paul Public Schools that placed 200 youth, including 40 from the Community Ambassadors program. Carlo also created a new summer training program for interns working their first job and resolved a summer staff shortage by reconfiguring schedules and creating buy in with team members. He also created evaluation tools for new training program components. Carlo is most definitely a rising star and has already made significant contributions to Parks & Rec.
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Elected Official of Note
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Kathleen Gaylord, Dakota County Commissioner
Over the past 20 years, Commissioner Gaylord has represented District 2 on the Dakota County Board of Commissioners. She was instrumental in changing the county’s tax and budgeting culture. She led efforts to manage tax levies and stop annual tax increases and pay down county debt. Commissioner Gaylord pushed for changes in regional transit funding, resulting in more than $88 million for Dakota County transportation projects with no new taxes. She initiated a co-response program to pair social workers with law enforcement in crisis situations, supported water quality restoration projects, and pushed to update and expand the county library system.
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Paul Reinke, Oakdale Mayor
Paul Reinke has served as Oakdale Mayor for the past six years and served on the Oakdale City Council for 12 years prior. He has successfully led the city through staff turnover and changes on the City Council. Mayor Reinke is known to prefer being out of the spotlight, and does his work quietly to keep the City moving forward. He worked to advance several economic development projects and guided the city through tremendous growth in housing development.
Mayor Reinke received three separate nominations, and each mentioned his pivotal role in public safety during protests at Derek Chauvin’s home in 2020. Instead of experiencing pain and destruction, Oakdale had peaceful protests due to Reinke’s leadership amongst community leaders and police. His leadership at that crucial moment set a tone for future safety and city policing for which residents are grateful. |
Thank you for joining us today and
thank you to our sponsors and partners!
Corporate Sponsors | Comcast, Securian Financial, Shaw-Lundquist Construction, and WSB
Contributing Sponsor | Platinum Bank
Contributing Sponsor | Platinum Bank
East Metro Chamber Partners | Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce, Midway Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Hmong Chamber of Commerce, Oakdale Area Chamber of Commerce, St. Paul Area Chamber, and Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce
