Note: this column originally ran in the Owatonna People’s Press.
Company closings highlight need for sound policies
Recently a major company in Waseca announced it will close up shop by the end of the year. Quad/Graphics is a print manufacturing facility with 57 plants around the world, including two in Minnesota. The Waseca branch employs 350 people who will be out of a job.
According to Quad/Graphics, the decision is strictly financial – they will be consolidating their operations to other locations, and are committed to helping employees find new jobs or even transition to other Quad locations around the world.
Up in Grand Rapids, Blandin Paper Mill, which was built in 1902, is closing its doors. One hundred and fifty people will be laid off.
And recently Pilgrim Pride announced it would be closing the doors on a poultry processing plant in Luverne. Two hundred people will be out of work.
Stories like these are an important reminder that even when the economy is doing well overall, businesses are still facing pressures that require difficult decisions. These decisions are always painful for the families involved, but this year the legislature focused on ways to make the transition easier and continue building a powerful workforce that will be strong over the long-term.
Minnesota will be facing serious demographic challenges in the very near future, and we have to prepare. This requires a multi-pronged approach.
The first step is to create a strong economy that continues generating economic activity. Recently, the finance magazine Kiplinger’s ranked Minnesota as the second least tax friendly state in the country. Minnesota appears on lists like this frequently, but Republican priorities of reducing duplicative and burdensome regulations and lowering taxes will help get us on to lists of the most tax friendly states. We also need a tax climate that puts working families first – you work too hard for your paycheck just to turn so much of it over to the state. This year, we passed the largest tax relief bill in almost two decades, with relief for young families, workers, and small business owners. Republican policies have us on the right track.
Second, we need to focus on programs to help grow better paying jobs in every corner of the state. This year, we passed a major bipartisan jobs bill that spends $208 million on a number of jobs and economic development programs, with a stronger emphasis on proven public-private partnerships. This includes funding for the Minnesota Investment Fund and the Job Creation Fund. It includes the Youth Skills Training Program and the Redevelopment Grant Program. And it includes Extended Employment Programs, Vocational Rehabilitation Programs, workforce housing grants, and sustainable funding for DEED and the Department of Labor and Industry.
It’s always hard when important companies in our communities, like Quad/Graphics, have to make such difficult decisions that affect so many of our neighbors, but I’m glad they are so committed to helping the families who will be impacted. I hope the transition will be smooth for everyone.
Meanwhile, I will keep working to solidify our workforce for the future. Republican priorities of stronger job creation and lower taxes on working families will make Minnesota more productive by better connecting job creators to workers in growing industries throughout the state. That means even when businesses have to consolidate, workers can be confident there will be more – and better – opportunities just around the corner.