The importance of primary elections

By Doug Loon
President and CEO
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

We had an exciting week as we hosted our annual Women in Business Minnesota conference, this year at Target Field, bringing together business leaders from across the state, talking about the importance of the sports industry for the state and focusing on leadership, connections and professional opportunities in women's sports here in our great state.

One of the key highlights of the sold-out program was a conversation on the business of sports featuring leaders from the Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Aurora FC, Major League Volleyball Minnesota and Olympian Natalie Darwitz, who shared her personal journey from youth sports through college at the University of Minnesota. She grew up in St. Paul, became an Olympian and then went on to at Hamline and become CEO of the Minnesota Hockey Hall of Fame. Just a fantastic story of success, certainly with challenges, but she had a wonderful way of presenting her story about growing up here in Minnesota and what she's accomplished. So thank you, Natalie, for being with us, and thank you to all the speakers and sponsors.

The discussion offered a really unique look at the growing impact of professional sports on Minnesota's economy, while also exploring, of course, lessons in leadership, teamwork and building successful organizations here in Minnesota. Events like Women in Business Minnesota are an important opportunity to bring leaders together from different industries and backgrounds to share ideas, build relationships, and learn from one another.

So, as we look beyond events, there is also another important opportunity for business leaders to make their voices heard. Minnesota's primary elections are coming up on August 11, less than three weeks away. Now, while the November general election often gets more attention, the primary election is a critical opportunity for you to make your voice heard because it determines which candidates will move on to the general election.

So August 11 is your date to make sure your voice is heard for the business community. Now, these elections are really important because we need to make sure we support candidates who understand the importance of a strong economy, a competitive business climate, and policies that allow employers to grow and create opportunities and attract investments to Minnesota.

We encourage business leaders and members of the business community to learn about the candidates on their ballots, understand where they stand on issues important to Minnesota's economy and make sure to vote on August 11 in the primary.

One thing I've learned over the years is that businesspeople are busy, and sometimes we're not available to vote on Election Day. So, check your calendar for August 11 and make sure you're around to go vote and put it on your calendar. If you're like many and you have a busy day, or you're traveling and won't be in town, maybe you're across the country or out of the country altogether, make sure to take advantage of early voting or absentee voting, and it's easy to do. So check it out.

The Minnesota Chamber will be continuing its work to educate voters, advocate for candidates and policies that support economic growth, workforce development, competitiveness and opportunities across the state. As we head towards November, every election is an important opportunity to make sure we help shape the future of Minnesota's economy. We encourage our members, we encourage you to get informed, get involved and make sure your voice is heard at the ballot box.

With that, thank you for being with us this week and supporting the Chamber. We look forward to connecting with you next week on the Minnesota Business Podcast. Have a great weekend!