A Win-Win Relationship
Get to know your legislator. You’ll never regret it.
BY BOB KILL
During one of the manufacturing focus groups we sponsored in August as part of the annual State of Manufacturing survey (page 7), one company president explained why he doesn’t reach out to elected officials. “I don’t worry about things I can’t control,” he said. “The legislature is going to do what it wants and when it wants, no matter what my thoughts, so I just don’t bother.” Like a lot of CEOs, I too once viewed the world of legislators and politicians with the same lack of understanding I might feel while watching a cricket match. I knew it made sense; I just didn’t comprehend how.
My experience at Enterprise Minnesota has changed all that. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s recent tour of the European Roasterie coffee roasting plant in Le Center marked the 32nd manufacturing tour by a public official arranged by Enterprise Minnesota during the past 10 months. The success of these tours in promoting solid relationships between manufacturers and legislators cannot be overvalued. Elected officials care first and foremost about the well-being of their communities. Do their constituents have economic opportunity? Do they have access to solid, dependable jobs that enable them to provide their families and their neighborhoods with productive, stable and meaningful lives? Do their communities have a sufficient tax base to ensure safe and secure communities that offer modern schools, playgrounds and parks?
And what industry consistently offers those attributes? State job statistics continually confirm that manufacturers provide their communities with stable, high-paying jobs with superior benefits. Those same manufacturers also give the local tax base long-term, dependable economic stability.
That’s why most elected officials will readily accept an invitation to visit your business. No one has ever turned us down. What’s even cooler is what happens when they walk through your front doors. Like most of your visitors, most elected officials will be surprised by the high-tech efficiencies of your operation and the innovations of your people. No amount of talk replaces the value of showing a legislator the importance of a well-educated work force, the need to retain employees, the tangible value of training or the interrelation of world markets. It also doesn’t hurt to show them that manufacturers long ago went “green” with their jobs—we just call it lean!
To contact your legislator, go to www.house.leg.state.mn.us or www.senate.leg.state.mn.us.