Minnsights Blog

Each year, the Minnesota Chamber's Session Priorities event unofficially kicks off the legislative session. While it's a key way for the Chamber to share the business community's priorities, it's also a chance for legislative leaders to share priorities of their own. KSTP's Tom Hauser hosted a series of lightning round questions for the four legislative leaders: Speaker Melissa Hortman, House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson. Here are their answers:

WestRock, a recycled paper mill and packaging manufacturer located in St. Paul, Minnesota, was interested in starting to recycle plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Minnesota Waste Wise met with them in the fall of 2021 to kick off their efforts.​

The Minnesota Chamber would like to acknowledge that Monday, January 15th is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dr. King is most commonly known for his advocacy, social justice work and powerful speeches, such as “l Have a Dream,” which was delivered during his peaceful march in Washington, D.C. in 1963, at which over 250,000 people were present. 

As a member of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Allina Health’s Environmental Sustainability Manager, Suzanne Hansen and Energy Smart have teamed up as part of their Green Teams initiative. The first step - get the portfolio of facilities benchmarked to evaluate priority buildings and complete energy consultations. In 2022, Energy Smart completed ten consultations with Allina Health. Often, these facilities manage a tight ship when it comes to operations and maintenance and have already captured the low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency projects. Energy Smart adds value as an extension of the Allina Health team by identifying projects for which rebates were not applied.

Minnesota’s economy is made up of a diverse set of industries. Understanding trends across industry sectors can better illuminate underlying strengths and challenges in the economy. This report looks beneath the aggregate data to see how Minnesota’s various industry sectors are performing and tracks progress in the development of key sectors of its economy.