I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season, and were able to spend meaningful time with friends and family. I also want to thank you all for your commitment and engagement with us throughout the past year; we accomplished many big things together, and your team at The Chamber is looking forward to starting off this new year with a continued intensity and focus. As you may know, one of our cornerstones of work is Public Policy & Advocacy. This work is integral to our mission, and we understand the importance and power of public policy and advocacy work, and will continue to represent our members, their employees, and the greater community.

I am proud to report that our public policy efforts and capabilities have continued to grow, which has allowed us to significantly increase our local, state and federal advocacy efforts for our region. A new partnership with Primacy Strategy Group, a government affairs and advocacy firm, has enabled our team to more effectively and efficiently work on your behalf. Providing a collective voice in Bismarck, St. Paul and Washington, D.C. is an enormous benefit to our member businesses of all sizes. With a bi-state, multi-city presence, we have an extraordinary opportunity to leverage support for our metro region. A strong business-friendly climate is essential for economic growth and prosperity. We remain committed to advocating for policy, convening public officials and business leaders, and representing our members’ interests at all levels of government.

This month in The Bridge, we will walk you through some of our recent and current efforts, successes, resources and events that we think you need to know about when it comes to public policy. You’ll also discover many upcoming events and opportunities for you to be a part of the conversation, and help propel our community forward. We are excited for the upcoming year and look forward to standing alongside each and every one of you.