Issue Position: Attracting and Retaining Workers and Families

Issue Position

Northwestern Minnesota has plenty to offer: good jobs, great communities to raise families, and lots of opportunity. But we do not attract enough workers or families to grow our towns and communities. We must figure out ways to showcase our great district or we will continue to see accelerated population decline.

Our first step is to make Northwestern Minnesota a desirable place for our own children to stay and raise their families. We can do this by bolstering our primary and secondary schools. If our children possess the skills that are marketable to our local businesses, there will not be a need for our children to go elsewhere to find employment.

We also must provide a tax and regulatory structure that encourages businesses to stay and hire employees right here in SD1. Because we are a border district with a competitive western neighbor, we know all too well the draw they have on businesses and jobs that could stay right here in this district. Legislators from populist urban centers do not understand how the regulatory plans devised in the metro area impacts our businesses climate is penalizing our small towns and rural communities.

Finally, if we start attracting new families and retaining our own, an already tight and aging housing market will become a barrier to growth. We can encourage an investment in housing with reasonable policies and incentives.

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