CONNECTIONS A PUBLICATION BY THE EDEN PRAIRIE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Vol. 47, Issue 11 | November 2016
THANK YOU 2016 ANNUAL SPONSORS!
ATHENA Luncheon 2016
SILVER SPONSOR
Join us for our annual ATHENA luncheon presented by Suburban Chevrolet! We will be presenting the 2016 ATHENA Award to the chosen recipient.
BRONZE SPONSORS
The ATHENA Award is presented annually to a woman or man who is recognized for professional excellence, community service and for actively Dr. Barbara Butts Williams assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence and leadership skills. The ATHENA Award highlights what recipients have accomplished, in addition to paving a path for future successes. In celebration of this award presentation, we will hear from the 2016 Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Career Achievement honoree, Dr. Barbara Butts Williams, PhD. Dr. Barbara Butts Williams is Executive Dean, External Relations & Partnerships and Dean Emeritus of Business at Capella Education Company. DATE: Thursday, November 10, 11:30 AM - 1 PM
GENERAL SPONSOR
LOCATION: Grace Church (9301 Eden Prairie Rd, Eden Prairie)
Sponsored by:
COST: $30 for members, $60 for non-members
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A Message from the Chair of the Board of Directors By: Katie Misukanis, M.P.A. Government Relations Director, Rasmussen College As a political science major and Government Relations Director, I could not let the second best day of this year go by without recognition- election day, of course! While I am confident that I am one of less than 3% of the population who enjoys the build-up and anticipation of November 8th, I also would not be a good Board Chair to not recognize its significance. While I think we can all agree that this Presidential campaign is like none other we have seen and we all may be excited for it to be done, the ending result will impact all of us. The interesting thing is that the first U.S. Presidential election in 1789 was not a contested race, the citizens knew that George Washington was the best person to be our first President. It was not until 1820 that political parties started to have a profound impact on the process. Regardless of your political leanings, I encourage you all to take a moment to do research on the candidates and vote. I encourage you to know your issues—issues that impact your business, your family, your neighborhood—today and four years from now. I encourage you to look at the candidates’ websites, google their name to find out if there are forums or debates they participated in, go to the caucus and BPOU websites for more information, understand who endorsed them and how those organizations match with your needs. We live in a democracy and this is a fragile time for business. It is imperative that you exercise your right as an American to have a voice in who represents you.
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A Message from the President By: Pat MulQueeny, IOM President, Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce Public Policy, Election and Business The Chamber hosted our State Candidates at a forum focused on business issues on October 6. Mary Lahammer from TPT- Almanac was our moderator and the event was featured on the show later in the week. Our candidates were: Senate 48: Senator David Hann (GOP), Steve Cwodzinski (DFL) House District 48A: Laurie Pryor (DFL), Mary Shapiro (GOP) House District 48B: Ben Sherlock (DFL), Representative Jenifer Loon (GOP) The questions raised focused on transportation, taxes, education, MET Council reform, local ordinances on business and regulations. Our members had the opportunity to hear directly from the candidates, get an understanding of the candidates’ views and knowledge of the topics, and learn how they will represent businesses if they are elected. We thank our members for their participation and remind everyone to vote for candidates that are willing to support businesses and work with them in the years ahead.
Education and the Future Workforce The Chamber’s Student Membership program kicked off its 11th year this past month. This annual program is designed to connect 20 high school students to our businesses in such a way that helps them learn skills, understand our business community better and prepare them for future careers. The Chamber has helped over 200 students through this program, and we look forward to another great year. As a member of the chamber, you can help these students in a number of ways—they are looking for job shadows and informational interviews to learn about careers, the responsibilities of different jobs, what education/ training they need to be successful and business projects. If you would like to connect with our Student Members to offer them a job shadow, internship or other opportunity, please call our office at (952) 9442830 or email me at pat.mulqueeny@epchamber.org.
Career Fair – Building Businesses Talent Pipeline The Chamber held its 3rd annual Career Fair on October 25th at the Eden Prairie High School. Nearly 60 businesses participated in the event that is focused on helping all students learn about future career opportunities. As businesses know, finding workers and talent in today’s marketplace is difficult and, in many cases, the long term outlook for hiring is not rosy. The Career Fair was started to help businesses interact directly with high school students in 9th through 12 grade, and help them understand what careers are needed and how they can set their path to achieve some of these careers. We have seen success from this program for our members. One of the best examples is seen in an interaction that led to a new, focused career path for one of the students, and the promise of future talent for a member. One of our members was in need of a welder, made a connection with an Eden Prairie High School student at the Career Fair, introduced him to the idea of welding as a career path, and the student is now pursuing that path with the intention of working for that business after training. If your business did not participate in this year’s Career fair, but would like to in 2017, please email Lori at lori.brown@epchamber.org.
“Connections” (USPS 729770) is published 12 times per calendar year by the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce, 11455 Viking Dr. #270, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 Periodicals postage paid at Prior Lake, MN - POSTMASTER: Send address changes to “Connections,” 11455 Viking Dr. #270, Eden Prairie, MN 55344
NETWORKING
www.epchamber.org The Purple Reign Gala presented by the Minnesota Vikings took place on Saturday, October 15 in the Hyundai Club at U.S. Bank Stadium. This 19th annual Eden Prairie Chamber tradition brought together over 260 attendees to enjoy a night of celebrating the great businesses that make up the Eden Prairie Chamber and all that the Chamber is able to do because of those businesses. Attendees enjoyed many games, appetizers, a silent auction with nearly 100 items, a live auction featuring six big-ticket items, a plated meal and an exclusive performance by The Purple Xperience, a Prince tribute band led by Dr. Matt Fink, one of the original members of The Revolution.
THANK YOU SPONSORS! EVENT SPONSOR
PLATINUM SPONSOR
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS ANCHOR BANK C.H. ROBINSON REPUBLIC SERVICES WASHBURN-McREAVY WINGS FINANCIAL CREDIT UNION WARM-UP SPONSOR CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR SUPPORTING SPONSORS BREMER BANK CENTERPOINT ENERGY CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR OLYMPIC HILLS GOLF CLUB RASMUSSEN COLLEGE SHARPER MANAGEMENT TIGER PLUBMING, HEATING & AIR
GENERAL SPONSORS EDEN PRAIRIE SMILES FAIRVIEW HEALTH SERVICES WELLS FARGO - EDEN PRAIRIE VILLAGE XCEL ENERGY BEST DRESSED SPONSOR ANCHOR BANK INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS FROEHLING ANDERSON HENNEPIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE MEDEXPRESS URGENT CARE 2-MINUTE DRILL SPONSORS PINSTRIPES RESTAURANT ROYAL CREDIT UNION
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NETWORKING
SPOTLIGHT: STUDENT MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM
Thank you to picture time for capturing all of the unforgettable nights of the evening. See all the photos from the purple reign gala on our facebook page: Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce
MEMBERSHIP
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Minnesota Chamber challenges Minneapolis paid sick time ordinance By: Doug Loon President, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Minnesota is blessed with a diverse business landscape – all sizes and types of companies that make up the economic fabric of our state from border to border. Visit any community and see for yourself. A manufacturer with a couple of hundred employees working shifts. A Main Street retailer providing jobs for a dozen full- and part-time workers. A hospital whose round-the-clock operations often demand that it contracts with an out-of-town company to provide emergency services. A trucking company crisscrossing the state to serve its clients. Each business has distinctive operations and workplace needs. Each develops wages and salaries, benefits, policies and procedures that best serve the needs of employer and employees. It’s a sure bet the companies don’t share a uniform employee handbook. Yet, that’s exactly what the city of Minneapolis is mandating with a new ordinance requiring businesses to provide paid sick time leave. The law takes effect July 1, 2017. In a nutshell, companies with six or more employees must provide paid sick and safe time to all employees who work within the city limits at least 80 hours within a year. Companies must comply with the ordinance even if they do not have a location in the city – or even in Minnesota, for that matter. The Minnesota Chamber has filed a lawsuit to challenge the paid sick time ordinance. The lawsuit asks the judge to strike down the ordinance and in the meantime prevent the city of Minneapolis from enforcing it. The ordinance is unlawful because it conflicts with state law and seeks to regulate in a policy area that is a statewide concern. Simply put, we seek to ensure consistency of workplace laws and prevent a patchwork of city-by-city workplace regulations. Businesses already have an incentive to compete for employees by offering the best mix of wage and benefits packages. We wholeheartedly support and encourage employers to provide employees with flexible, paid options for providing care to their families. Flexibility is the key, however. It’s a far better approach
to have employers sit down with employees to develop policies that work for individual workplaces. Imposing a one-size-fits-all mandate stifles any creativity and flexibility with a straightjacket. At the forefront of our efforts is collecting examples of “best practices” in paid sick leave policies from our members and sharing them with the broader business community. We’d like to hear from as many businesses as possible. Please send your examples to mail@ mnchamber.com. Our lawsuit, filed in conjunction with a group of coplaintiffs, will be watched closely. St. Paul has passed a similar ordinance also scheduled to take effect July 1, 2017. Duluth is considering a local ordinance, too. It’s only a matter of time before other efforts “come to a town near you.” Beyond the legal flaws, the Minneapolis law is particularly troublesome in practical ways: • The ordinance imposes significant administrative burdens by requiring companies to track exactly how many hours their employees work within the city limits and to pay lawyers to interpret the ordinance. These burdens will become even greater if other cities enact their own varying ordinances. • The ordinance extends far beyond the boundaries of Minneapolis. Companies that deliver goods and services into the city, who have employees who telecommute from Minneapolis, or who otherwise have employees who attend meetings and events in Minneapolis will find themselves subject to the ordinance – perhaps unwittingly. The lawsuit parallels the Minnesota Chamber’s efforts at the Legislature to make explicit the fact that state law preempts municipal regulation of wages and benefits. We, along with our local chamber partners, will renew our efforts in 2017 after the Legislature failed to take action this year. Employers need consistent, statewide workplace regulations. However, mandates on everyday business operations are not appropriate coming from any level of government. Businesses across the state already are adopting paid leave policies designed to meet the particular needs of their enterprise and their employees. State and local policymakers should be encouraging this trend and not imposing one-size-fits-all mandates.
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New Members Looking back on October Candidate Forum
We invited members of the Chamber and wider community to engage in dialogue with local candidates of House District 48A and 48B and Senate District 48 on October 6. The discussion moderated by Mary Lahammer of TPT Almanac, focused on topics important to local businesses including transportation, regulations, health care and business taxes. You can hear the candidate’s opening statements on our Facebook page - just go to our video section.
MEMBERSHIP Site Visits & Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies Site Visits & Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies Congratulations to these Chamber members who recently celebrated an opening or re-location. Thank you for letting the Chamber be a part of your celebration!
DogWatch of the Twin Cities
New Members Welcome to the Chamber! Stratasys, Inc. 7665 Commerce Way Eden Prairie, MN 55344 (952) 937-3000 www.stratasys.com Ascent Audiology and Hearing 7820 Terry Pine Ct, #110 Eden Prairie, MN 55347 (952) 594-8358 www.ascentaudiologyedenprairie.com Edward Jones - Eugene Lee 8929 Aztec Drive, #7 Eden Prairie, MN 55347 (701) 866-3133 www.edwardjones.com Coopersmith Marketing 7165 Shady Oak Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 (612) 922-9601 www.coopersmithmarketing.com
National American University
Ambassador of the Month
Steve Bowman Tiger Plumbing, Heating & Air
Our Ambassador Committee is a group of volunteers who serve as mentors to new members and act as good-will ambassadors on behalf of the Chamber.
This is a publication of the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce
11455 Viking Dr, #270 Eden Prairie, MN 55344
P: (952) 944-2830 F: (952) 944-0229
www.epchamber.org
PERIODICALS US POSTAGE PAID PRIOR LAKE, MN USPS#729770
NOVEMBER 2016 - Calendar of Events Monday 3
Tuesday 1
Wednesday 2
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Business@Breakfast: Cultivating Connections Series 7:30 - 8:30 AM Tavern 4 & 5
ATHENA Luncheon 11:30 AM - 1 PM Grace Church
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Lunch & Learn: Stay Healthy this Holiday Season 11:45 AM - 1 PM Chamber office
Business@Breakfast: Cultivating Connections Series 7:30 - 8:30 AM Tavern 4 & 5
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CHAMBER OFFICE CLOSED
CHAMBER OFFICE CLOSED
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Business@Breakfast: Cultivating Connections Series 7:30 - 8:30 AM Tavern 4 & 5
Beers with BEERS 4:30 - 6:30 PM Brunswick Zone XL
Business@Breakfast 7:30 - 8:30 AM BEER Luncheon 11 AM - 1 PM
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PLEASE RSVP/Cancel FOR ALL EVENTS BY 12 PM THE DAY PRIOR! Visit epchamber.org to view details, pricing or to RSVP today!