As I read the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Sept 19 article on our state’s brightening job picture, with 6,100 new jobs added in August alone, Rep. Yvonne Selcer and her work in this area came to mind. Selcer authored legislation to extend and expand the successful Angel Investment Credit program, and also co-authored legislation to expand the proven program which provides forgivable loans to small businesses; these loans are forgiven when certain job creation criteria are met. Rep. Selcer did not vote for the tax bill which contained the business-to-business taxes, and successfully worked for its repeal in the 2014 legislative session.

I was alarmed at first to read that our labor pool in Minnesota is shrinking, but fortunately it is not because of an increase in the numbers of discouraged workers; those numbers have been falling, according to this Star Tribune article. Rather, as Steve Hine, the state labor market economist, was quoted as saying, “It’s safe to say that this is really a result of demographics” because our aging workforce is retiring.

But even though this article stated that Minnesota’s labor force participation rate is still among the highest in the nation, it is no secret that some businesses are having a hard time filling certain positions, such as skilled manufacturing jobs. In other words, there is more work to be done. Rep. Selcer has spent considerable time touring local businesses to find out how best our public schools and re-training programs can meet the good paying careers that are out there today. We need to re-elect Yvonne so that she can continue these good partnerships to create the conditions that will continue to move MN forward.

Doug Lind
Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie News, September 25, 2014

2014 job growth · 2014 Minnesota economic recovery · Angel investment credit · HD48A · House District 48A · Rep. Selcer · Rep. Yvonne Selcer · Yvonne Selcer

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