MnDOT-logo18-620x320The Minnesota Department of Transportation is currently studying the viability of launching intercity bus service between Greater Mankato and Minneapolis/St. Paul. To help determine the level of usage and type of users of this service, MnDOT is asking residents to participate in a brief survey. Check out the full release from MnDOT below and participate in the survey.

By Shannon Gullickson, Talent Programs Director[caption id="attachment_2391" align="alignleft" width="350"]Blue Earth County Justice Center Blue Earth County Justice Center[/caption]As Talent Programs Director I enjoy offering “Behind the Scenes” opportunities to participants in our Leadership Institute and Young Professionals programs. That’s why I am eager to spread the word about an opportunity that is being offered tomorrow to the entire community as the Blue Earth County Justice Center opens its doors to the public as part of a Law Day “Open Courthouse” event. The Justice Center is most likely not a building you have spent much time in (if you're on the right side of the law), so this is truly a rare opportunity! In fact, the Supreme Court visit is one of the most highly-rated parts of our annual Leadership Institute trip to St. Paul.

4 beginning twitter tips for businessFrom 2014-2015 the number of Twitter users grew by 50 million, and it’s estimated that close to 1/5 of Internet users have Twitter accounts. The average Twitter user follows five businesses so if you’re not trying to reach your customers on Twitter you’re missing an opportunity.Twitter is easy enough to understand, just share something 140 characters or less. You can share links, images or videos. Here are a few other tips for businesses just starting out on Twitter:

The U.S. Census Bureau has released the 2014 County Business Patterns (CBP) statistics on Thursday, April 21, 2016. CBP covers more than 7.5 million U.S. business establishments, and provides employment and payroll data at subnational levels by industry.In the Greater Mankato area, Blue Earth and Nicollet Counties, there are 2,573 establishments (businesses).  This is 12 more than the year before.Blue Earth ranked 12th in the State in annual payroll with $1,228,666,000.  Nicollet was 30th with $472,813,000 in annual payroll.  As a region, payroll increased by $61,333,000 or 3.74% over the last year.When looking at it by industry sector, I compiled the following table for the Greater Mankato area:

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By: Sam Ziegler | Director of Project ABE

Earth Day 2016...a time to reflect and take action on making our community a better place. As an avid outdoors-man, farmer and dad protecting our natural resources is important to me as I'm sure it is to many of you. In order to protect the environment and meet the growing global demand for food means that farmers must produce more, using fewer resources through innovation and the responsible use of technology. The good news is that Minnesota farmers have been doing just that for decades. 

This past March, I posted about the upcoming economic opportunity connecting Greater Mankato to the Super Bowl being hosted in Minneapolis in 2018. The connection of Greater Mankato to the professional sports market gained further momentum recently.The largest issue facing businesses in our local economy is workforce challenges. This isn't localized to our area either. Demographic shifts are impacting the national labor force as Baby Boomers age out of the workforce. These challenges take different forms depending on the industry, from training to just having enough people to staff a 2nd shift.

We're excited to announce our lineup of summer events for Greater Mankato Growth's Public Affairs Forum Series. The Forum Series is a set of 8-10 events per year that bring together compelling speakers and business leaders to discuss timely and relevant political and policy issues.The series is open to the public. Our summer lineup is below. You can register and learn more at our Forum Series webpage: greatermankato.com/public-affairs-forum-series

FromTheDomeWith only five weeks left in the Legislative Session, tax issues are heating up. One of the key tax issues for business this year, and the top priority for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, is to reduce the impact of the statewide business property tax.Greater Mankato Growth strives to keep our businesses up-to-speed on key issues at the Legislature so that they can weigh-in and be their own best advocate on issues that are of interest to them. The statewide business property tax impacts every commercial and industrial property in the state, so you'll want to check out the information below. Be sure to make your voice heard with our regional legislators with your thoughts on this issue.

FromTheDomeThe Minnesota Legislature is currently considering a new statewide requirement which would impose a payroll tax on employers and employees in Minnesota to fund a new paid leave entitlement. Greater Mankato Growth strives to keep our businesses up-to-speed on key issues at the Legislature so that they can weigh-in and be their own best advocate. This paid leave issue is one that every business is going to want to take a look at. Check out our elected officials contact page so you can weigh-in with our local legislators with your thoughts.
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