Last week state lawmakers met with Duluth business and cultural leaders in Saint Paul for the annual Duluth Days at the Capitol, an event hosted by the Duluth Chamber of Commerce. The two-day event began with legislative sessions on Wednesday followed by a career-fair-type event at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Saint Paul, where area business, colleges and restaurants ran informational tables.
"This last [Duluth Days] was our biggest and best ever," said Roger Wedin, Director of Policy and Education at the Duluth Chamber of Commerce. Last week represented the event's 18th year, and Wedin said its growth has been due to tightening lobbying laws and the atmosphere of the event itself.
"Folks see it as an opportunity to really lift up issues, policy priorities... promote their projects, and it's really taken on a reputation... of [being] a high-energy, successful event. People like to be there--we had nearly 500 northeastern businesspeople at the event--it gives them an opportunity to connect and promote our region," Wedin said.
Before 'Duluth Days at the Capitol' area businesses could invite lobby legislators in Duluth while entertaining them, a combination now prohibited under Minnesota law.
"You can't give anything of value to legislators anymore," said Wedin. Instead, hundreds of businesspeople from Duluth and the greater St. Louis County mingled at a grand reception in the Crowne Plaza and got a chance to showcase their work to state leaders.
Arco Coffee has been in business since 1916 and gave out free coffee at Duluth Day's Grand Reception. Andy Jonas, a Regional Sales Manager at the company, has been attending the event for almost a decade.
"The event is a great idea. As for coffee, there isn't a whole lot of stuff going on," Jonas said. And by not a whole lot going on, he means there are no projects Arco lobbied state officials about. Lobbying for specific projects is the primary objective for bigger companies hoping to raise money in partnership with the state through bonding dollars, like Cirrus Aircraft.
Cirrus makes small personal aircraft in Duluth. Bill King, Vice President for Development at Cirrus, said state funding helped make the Duluth factory possible. "The State has been a great partner for us...we have grown many-fold and will continue [to do so]." Next year the state will allocate bonding dollars and King hopes to secure some for a finishing plant in Duluth.
Every two years Minnesota's Legislature raises hundreds of millions of dollars through bond sales, i.e. borrowing money, and distributes the proceeds to projects throughout the state. Bond proceeds are a gift to whichever organization receives them, but usually, in order to receive bond money, the organization has to match the proceeds.
For example, during the last bonding session the state appropriated $6 million to renovate the North Shore Theater in downtown Duluth and the proceeds were matched by Sherman Associates, a private investor. Kate Horvath is an Education Director at the Duluth Playhouse, and she manned The North Shore Theater table to thank legislators for their help in reviving the theater. "It is a really exciting time for us," she said.
Other bonding projects from last year's session include Maurice's new headquarters building, Spirit Mountain's water infrastructure project, and Wade Stadium. State bonding dollars go to projects across the state, and other cities like St. Cloud and Mankato host events akin to Duluth Days. But Duluth days has a reputation for being the most prominent of all, according to Wedin, and comments from legislators at the event confirmed his opinion.
After the legislature sessions during the day on Wednesday and the Grand Reception following, a breakfast was held with speeches by Governor Mark Dayton, Duluth Mayor Don Ness, Duluth representative Erik Simonson and Duluth Senator Roger Reinhert. Ness and Simonson thanked Saint Paul for its continued support and highlighted Duluth's resurgence as an historic occurrence and with more support that growth can be sustained.
Governor Dayton focused much of his speech on infrastructure projects and the need for investment this year, while the state runs a surplus. According to figures released on Friday by the Minnesota Management and Budget office, the state surplus is projected at $1.9 billion, up $832 million from the November forecast.