Commissioners on Wheels stop in Luverne

Commissioners from nine state agencies met with businesses and community leaders in 11 southern and western Minnesota towns during a three-day bus tour Sept. 7-9. 

Their mission was to hear firsthand how state policies are affecting outstate Minnesota — particularly with regard to water, energy and agriculture.
A common theme at the Luverne stop Wednesday, Sept. 7, was that overlapping regulatory agencies were creating redundant paperwork and lost time for small businesses.
“I thought I was an agronomist, but now I’m a regulation administrator,” said Jerry Stevens, owner of Express Ag in Luverne.
He said licenses, permits and fees cost his business thousands of dollars each year, and he ends up checking the same boxes and answering the same questions on multiple forms
“Try to see where you can help eliminate redundancies,” he said during a lunch meeting with state agency heads in Sterling’s Café and Grille.
It was the right time and place to raise these concerns, considering the Commissioners and Wheels tour is meant to increase awareness of Gov. Mark Dayton’s Minnesota Business First Stop.
The program was created in 2012 to streamline the process for financing, licensing, permitting, technical assistance and other resources that state agencies provide to businesses.
Last week’s trip included stops in 10 other communities: Worthington, Pipestone, Marshall, Granite Falls, Willmar, Benson, Morris, Graceville, Breckenridge and Moorhead. 


Those and other tour stops were chosen because of their innovative practices related to the tour theme of water, energy or agriculture. 


The nine state agencies with representatives on the trip are partners in Minnesota Business First Stop, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) serving as the lead agency.
“Minnesota Business First Stop connects businesses with the right people at the right agencies,” said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. “This cross-agency initiative offers assistance with large and complex business projects in Minnesota.”

Also participating in Wednesday’s trip were Andrea Vaubel, assistant commissioner, Department of Agriculture; 
John Linc Stine, commissioner, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; 
Tom Landwehr, commissioner, Department of Natural Resources; 
Mark Phillips, commissioner, Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board; 
Charlie Zelle, commissioner, Department of Transportation; 
Cynthia Bauerly, commissioner, Department of Revenue; 
Ken Peterson, commissioner, Department of Labor and Industry;
and Mike Rothman, commissioner, Department of Commerce.