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Now for this week's show, the Duth and St.

Louis County days at the state capital in St.

Paul.

This is in business.

Welcome to In Business.

I'm Ken Buer.

This week we're taking you to the state capital in St.

Paul for Duth and St.

Louis County days.

Each year, business leaders, local officials, and community organizations come together to make their case directly to lawmakers.

The goal to secure funding, advance policy priorities, and make certain that northeastern Minnesota has a strong voice at the state level.

This year's priorities include housing, economic development, child care, workforce development, and support for key regional assets like the 148th Fighter Wing and Duth International Airport.

Throughout the event, the stakeholders met with legislators, shared their priorities, and made the case for investment in the region's future.

But first, we visited the event to hear directly from those organizers about the projects they're hoping will receive state funding.

I'm Lucy Amenson.

I work at the deck, which is the Duth Entertainment Convention Center.

And today I am in St.

Paul doing some lobbying.

And what the deck really needs are these rings.

These are VTOLIC rings.

And we have hundreds of them at the deck.

They secure these pipes that go to the steam plant, but they're faulty.

And if they do not have 195 degrees water running through the pipes at all times to keep it nice and expanded, they will leak or burst.

And that's a big problem.

We have a million square feet of deck and we cannot have this going on.

By replacing these, um, we will save $100,000 every year.

Plus, you know, they're dangerous in that they can burst.

So, that is our big grand hope.

We have other hopes, of course.

We'd love to do more accessibility spending with better seating and and um elevators and whatnot, but it's all about the rings.

It is really important and wonderful for our legislators to see us all turn out in mass because we are known for this event.

I think we might have been one of the first communities to organize and come down all together and it makes a difference.

Listening makes a difference and talking.

Showing up is what makes democracy happen.

Tom Warner, executive director, Duth Airport Authority.

We're still trying to secure the last uh bit of funding we need for a new air traffic control tower at the Duth International Airport.

We have the third oldest tower in the country at Duth International.

Uh it's well past its useful life and uh we've got a a very vibrant uh aviation economy.

And so in order to keep up with its growth and prepare for the next generation of aviation, uh a new tower is needed.

We've been working on this project for a long time.

uh about five years ago there there became a federal funding source that aligned with this project and so we've been aggressively working towards uh construction ever since.

It's a really good event uh really helps share our message with the broader community to uh all the legislators down here and so it's a great opportunity for us to uh talk to the people that uh we want to support our project.

Charles Nace I'm the chancellor at the University of Minnesota Duth part of today was just to tell the story about Duth and the amazing things that are happening in Duth and St.

county and make sure that our elected officials know about all of the cool things that are happening in that part of our state.

For DUTH, in particular, for UMD in particular, we're really looking at a bonding bill and asset preservation.

Our we've got amazing buildings on campus and a great learning environment, but they need some enhancements and they need the opportunity for us to improve access for those students that may have mobility issues.

uh we need to fix some elevators that we're borrowing parts from one elevator to fix another and uh and and that needs to be fixed.

And then uh we've got some some spaces that just basically at one point in time uh we had enough breeze coming off of Lake Superior to keep them cool.

That's not the case anymore.

And so we need to upgrade some of our heating and air conditioning units to make sure that the air ventilation system works better so that the learning environment actually helps us to deliver on our mission.

And so uh our big focus is on asset preservation through the the heaper and a bonding bill and and that's in our big ask.

Uh part of it was also to share the story in the news of the duth promise.

So, our intersegmental education agreement across K12, private institutions, 2-year institutions, four-year institutions in Duth, all creating workforce pathways into health and healthcare, partnering with uh the city of Duth, with Apex, the chamber, uh with our local health care providers to make sure that we're educating the future healthcare workforce of tomorrow.

Uh and so the DUTH promise is doing some good stuff.

We got an allocation last year and so we came today to make sure people knew that we are moving forward in that work uh and hopefully to create a template that can be used across the state of Minnesota to do similar type of intersegmental workforce development projects.

So it was a great day to tell that story.

This is in business.

I'm Ken Ber.

We're reviewing the just completed duth St.

Louis County days at the state capital in St.

Paul.

This lobbying effort has a history of being the most focused, successful, and well-attended capital event.

To know what's true or not, all you have to do is attend.

The legislative turnout, the packed reception, and the trade show, plus the governor's breakfast are all SRO.

And might I add, a lot of fun.

To see if this year measured up to a storied past, we have fresh from St.

Paul Matt Bumgardner, president and CEO of the DUTH Chamber of Commerce, the organizing organization of this yearly event uh that sojourned so many of the Northland to the state capital.

Matt, thank you for joining us.

We're glad you're here.

Thank you for having me.

What an honor.

Well, honor to have you.

I want to know if uh the history of St.

Louis County and Duth days at the state capital.

Uh what is it that makes this so special?

Sure.

Uh well this was the 29th year uh of consecutively going down and advocating on behalf of Duth St.

Louis County and the Arrowhead region.

It's really become a regional event and it still is to this day.

It was the first and it still is the largest regional advocacy effort that the state has each year.

We bring down about 300 people from uh the Northland and from the Iron Range and we end up with about 500 people including legislators and people who work at the capital at our uh reception uh on Wednesday and then Thursday morning this year we had 350 people at the governor's breakfast where we heard from elected officials and chamber representatives and others.

So uh as far as attendance goes, it was a record year.

We couldn't do it without our sponsors and it was uh an amazing event.

So, you had record attendance, record enthusiasm as well.

Record enthusiasm.

It is a uh a short legislative year.

Uh it's a bonding year, and I'm sure we'll talk about that.

There were a lot of uh requests for uh a bonding bill.

Uh it was also a year that is critical to talk about uh policies and um rules and regulations that would benefit the economy, the schools and the people of northeastern Minnesota, including Duth as the regional hub.

We should point out that this lobbying effort is uh a citizen lobbying effort and that it's an opportunity for uh residents of the region, voters to meet face to face with their lawmakers.

I'm sure you did the same thing.

What did they tell you specifically about a possible bonding bill for all these asks you mentioned?

I think you hit on something very important there, Ken.

Um, this is a grassroots effort and continues to be.

So, while the Duth Area Chamber of Commerce is honored to and proud to organize the event, we bring down community leaders, we bring down citizens, and we organize legislative lobbying teams that can go down and meet with our local electeds and electeds from across the state to talk about what is critical for northeastern Minnesota.

We aren't down in the metro area every single day.

And so, when we are down there, we need to make sure that we have an impact.

So, regarding what we heard from uh elected officials is that pretty uniformly across the aisle uh biccamely the governor everybody wants a bonding bill.

The key is wanting and making it happen.

And so, uh we will continue to be down there asking for that because it is critical to fund the infrastructure needs that we have with our public institutions to fund projects that create future economic impact.

Um, and in addition to that, it's critical for the future generations of our area.

And I have two young kids that I want to keep in this area.

So, uh, the legislators were very open to and, uh, optimistic about a bonding bill.

It's really going to come down to the end of the session and if there can be an agreement reached about what that looks like.

Matt Bombgardner is president and CEO of the Duth Chamber of Commerce and the organizer of DUTH St.

Louis County days at the state capital which has expanded from just a duth focus to now as you mentioned regional and on the Iron Range as well.

The governor has proposed as you just discussed a bonding bill.

He's looking at about $920 million.

The state finance department says that probably it's more likely that we could bond for a million or excuse me a billion dollars.

So there's not a lot of hedge room in there between 920 million and a billion dollars, which is the state's possible bounding authority based on the economy right now.

How does that leave much room for these Northland projects that you've been talking about?

It makes it very competitive.

When you think about Minnesota and you think about over 80 counties, 800 cities, everybody has needs.

And so it makes it extremely competitive.

And that's where it's so important that while all of the cities that were represented in northeastern Minnesota, all of the counties that are represented, um we do a little bit of triage and we say here are some of our top priorities that will benefit the entire region.

And a couple of those uh for example are for the county um we need to modernize the human services technology that they use.

Um that will create efficiencies and cost savings.

Um, another one is the solid waste uh management campus in Canyon.

That is something that we don't hear about a lot.

Doesn't grab a lot of headlines, but boy, do you need a system like that.

Uh, in Duth, which is the regional hub of northeastern Minnesota.

A project like moving the Union Gospel Mission from where it currently is downtown over to Second Street near where the county services building is uh would be transformational.

It will take um our shelter services which are provided regionally when people have a need or they are experiencing homelessness.

They come often to duth for the services.

This will put it in a spot where it's more centrally located and will work in tandem with the Damiano Center and Chum to provide services for people which then unlocks First Street for future development and that connects right to our regional hospitals.

So, in moving the Union Gospel Mission, which we support, the city supports, the county supports.

So, we're we're uniform in that, we can actually unlock First Street for development and housing, uh, mixed use, um, and potential medical school, uh, benefits in that area because that is a regional exchange district.

Uh, which is another, uh, request that we have this year is recapitalizing the regional exchange district.

Expanding that medical district, I think, is something that could be transformational.

Absolutely.

So almost 30 years now the uh Doo St.

Louis County days have been going down to the state legislature in St.

Paul and connecting with lawmakers.

What keeps the enthusiasm going do you think?

I think that we in northeastern Minnesota and and what I can't understate is in northeastern Minnesota we are resilient people.

We are people who are solutionoriented.

uh we don't do well taking no for an answer and if we get it we will go back and try to get a yes that is in our DNA and so the chance to get down there and be together uh see people that maybe you haven't seen since last year's Duth and St.

Louis County Days.

Um, it makes it uh an event that carries a lot of pride.

It carries a lot of history.

There's a lot of tradition there.

Many people are down there after their parents have been down there, maybe even a grandparent has been down there.

Uh, we've seen legislators who have retired and now have their kids coming to the event.

Um it it makes it very very special and that I think is why it has grown and we carry so much pride up here in the Northland and we want to be able to have the rest of the state including the metro understand that if there's one part of the state of Minnesota that would carry the best return on investment it is northeastern Minnesota.

We should be and we can be a hub of innovation and technology for the entire country.

We have natural resources.

We have uh incredible education institutions that can have workforce flow through them.

We have endusers with the medical district.

We have uh entrepreneurs that do incredible things at the natural resource uh uh resource institute.

Um in addition to that, we have uh an international port and a multimotal transportation center that can move things throughout the country.

On top of that, we have advanced aviation and aerospace and we can move people and cargo through there and advanced manufacturing.

And so when I am out around the country and the Midwest talking about our uh our commerce and our economy, people say, "God, if we could have one of those things, we have all of those things and then we have the greatest of the Great Lakes."

So really what we need is people to buy into the story that we know is true and it's in our fabric and that's why it's so exciting to go down there.

Not that I needed it, but you sold me.

My question though is that's what you told lawmakers.

What did you hear from lawmakers for this session that they told you?

Lawmakers love Duth.

They love coming up here.

Oftent times they are up here uh and this is a good thing, but there's an and they're up here for tourism.

They love bringing their family up here, being on Lake Superior, going on to Park Point, Minnesota Point, going up the shore, going to Gooseberry.

We also want them to come up here and see all of the other amazing things that we have from small business entrepreneurs in the Lincoln Park Craft District all the way out to Atlas Industrial Park, which is nearly full now.

Um, we would love for them to go up to our retail district and see how we have evolved our mall from one where many cities that have malls, they're empty.

We've transitioned ours to have day surgery, physical therapy, and exercise center.

So there still is a critical mass going through there and we'd love for them to come back and see the changes that have happened uh in our medical district in Canal Park.

So we want them to experience DUTH all year round, not just during the summer or Bentleyville because resoundingly people love DUTH.

We want them to love it just a little bit more so when they're making those difficult decisions around bills and making decisions around bonding uh that they're thinking about DUTH.

Your predecessor David Ross always used to tell the story Matt that uh the very first Duth days before St.

Louis County joined uh was a handful of people that went down to the state capital they all came back with hangovers and tattoos.

That's true.

How things have changed in 30 years.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah.

He tells the story.

He used to tell the story.

It was a rag tag crew of individuals.

20 people took a van down to St.

Paul to fight for Duth.

Um, and now all I can say is it's a caravan that comes from northeastern Minnesota to go down.

Um, and the impact is felt down there.

Uh, we're very proud of the effort that we put in.

Um, and I think time will tell how successful we were for investments and policies that can benefit our region.

You know, um, it's not all bonding.

That's an important piece this year.

But also, uh, we would love to see some more reform around permitting.

We would love to see things that can unlock uh things like the helium uh deposit that we have uh right near Babbot.

That is uh something that uh the only place that you can mine helium 3 besides the moon is in Babot.

And some would say Babbot and the moon have something in common.

I'm just kidding.

Of course, we love Babbot.

We do.

Uh thank you very much.

This has been a very successful uh program that has been put on and will continue.

Matt Bombgardner is the chamber president of uh the Duth Minnesota area.

We thank him for coming.

Now before our final story, here's a quick look at some top business news from across the region.

United Airlines is expanding service at Duth International Airport, adding a fifth daily flight to Chicago O'Hara.

The Duth Airport Authority says the addition reflects growing demand for air travel in the Northland and provides another early morning option for business travelers as well as better access to domestic and international connections.

Officials say continued growth will depend on local support, encouraging travelers to book flights out of Duth International whenever possible.

More than$1 billion dollars in federal funding has been released for the replacement of the Blotnik Bridge connecting Duth and Superior.

The project estimated at $1.8 billion will replace the aging structure built in 1961, which is expected to close by 2030 due to its deteriorating condition.

The bridge plays a critical role in the regional economy with about $4 billion dollar in goods crossing each year.

Construction is expected to support around,00 jobs as state and federal leaders work to keep the project on track.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, better known as DED, has awarded more than $762,000 to support three businesses as they expand across the state.

The projects in Baiji, Pine City, and Chesca are expected to create 55 new jobs and leverage more than $10 million in private investment.

The funding comes through programs designed to support business growth, manufacturing, and highquality job creation in Minnesota.

And for our final story, let's return to the state capital event where many organizations and communities are working to secure funding for projects that will help drive economic growth across our region.

Sh Conger, executive director of the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisum, Minnesota.

We attend uh capital days every year.

It's one of our favorite things to attend.

Uh typically we have a bonding request uh out um through the legislative session.

Uh we are a stateowned asset and the um Discovery Center operates that state-owned asset.

So, we're a museum and historical archives.

Uh, we have a state sanctioned record repository within our organization, but then we also are an event space, community hub.

We have concerts, we do a lot of educational programming.

So, um, we try to share that out with folks um, from northeastern Minnesota.

The traffic and just the good energy here.

Um there's a lot of not just uh northeastern Minnesota legislators that come through here and it's nice to talk um to them about our bonding request and typically we piggyback on some meetings with our local legislators as well.

So it's very important for us to be here because we have aging infrastructure.

Um it is a state asset and we need um to make sure that we're we're addressing that through supporting bonding.

The Lakes Zoo has a bonding bill.

We have a bonding request in for $6 million to just rehab the zoo, our furnaces, HVAC system, pathway repaving.

And so that's why we're down to the capital.

It's important to have a regional uh presence and a regional voice.

So when we're talking to legislators across Minnesota, they know that we are serious about our ask and that we're unified.

And so that's really important.

State support is really helpful as a regional amenity.

We far outpace what DUTH can provide as a city.

And uh we have visitors all across northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin.

And so making sure that the state is, you know, contributing to that regional amenity is really important for us.

Really, it's to create those connections with the legislators.

You know, if we have so many projects that we bring down here to St.

Paul that we seek support to to help uh uh get some of the projects to to to uh into into our community and really just to get in front of of people so that we're not kind of not just like a on a piece of paper, right?

A lot of times you'll see like a bill or you'll see um some sort of a grant report or something to that effect, but we like to be down here so that we can actually have a conversation, tell our story, talk about the projects that we're we're presenting and and kind of in a unique way, too.

I mean, you know, typ typically when we're when we're going for for a bill or something like that, there'll be a hearing and the hearings are are, you know, just sort of like, okay, we got to go through this process and and and we have to ask these questions and it can be it really it's a very formal process.

But here today, we can have a little more conversation.

we can we can we can take it to a different level and and when we're talking about projects that we're working on the big project for the aquarium this year is our sturgeon restoration project.

So this is a project that's been in development for a couple years working with uh partnering with Minnesota DNR partnering with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the FondeLac Band of Lake Superior Chippoa to rear sturgeon at the Great Lakes Aquarium rear lake sturgeon at the Great Lakes Aquarium to be reintroduced or stocked into the St.

Louis River.

And so this project was something that we had developed a couple years ago working with really started with the Minnesota DNR of seeing how can the aquarium help support any type of conservation efforts around sturgeon.

And that's what sort of had bore from it is like we we have this opportunity with where our location is and and how we are right next to the river that that we can utilize that water to rear these sturgeon for stocking efforts.

And so in that way we we had uh um come down and and sought some um um state re support for those projects and and honestly that project is um today we're we're kind of in the uh at the just near the finish line with it.

So here it's more a thanking for all the support that we've received.

We still have um some some funding that we're seeking through the LCCMR and um that's we're waiting for that for that bill to go through and that's kind of one of the final uh pieces that we have in play for for support of that project.

So also getting a chance to maybe connect with some of the legislators involved with that committee but then as well just tell the story and again just to thank people uh as we've been been working through it.

Yeah, we expect, you know, I think it's one of the things for, you know, the our our region, you know, the Airhead region.

Um, there's a lot of things happening, too.

I mean, it's not only with uh with the aquarium.

I mean, I my friends over at the zoo, they've got a lot of projects they're working on.

Our neighbors at the deck.

There's a lot of projects that that uh that are are really important, especially to the to the tourism industry, but then also to some of the great work that we're doing to to help with conservation and help educate the public.

I always think of uh the aquarium is the Great Lakes Aquarium is is is definitely a community asset, but it's also a regional asset.

And that's one of the stories that we tell.

We're telling a story about Lake Superior.

I mean, that's our our our gem.

That's that jewel that we have right right next to our our city.

And to get that story out to everybody in the States and and and to tell that how important that is, not only just for the Duth or Arrowhead region.

I mean, really, it's for the state.

It's a huge resource and um so it's kind of it's nice to be able to tell that story and and and bring it to to more people as well.

I'm Ken Buer.

Thanks for watching In Business.

If you missed any parts of tonight's show, you can always watch it at PBS North or listen on Monday at 5:30 on the North 1033.

Thanks again for watching and until next time, let's take care of each other.