Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 1995, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
CHAPTER 232-S.F.No. 759
An act relating to economic development; changing
certain departmental operating procedures; altering
the corporate structure of Advantage Minnesota, Inc.;
clarifying economic development authority powers;
amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 116J.58,
subdivision 1; 116J.693, subdivisions 2, 3, 4, and 5;
116N.02, subdivision 1; 116N.06; and 446A.03,
subdivision 4.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116J.58,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [ENUMERATION.] The commissioner shall:
(1) investigate, study, and undertake ways and means of
promoting and encouraging the prosperous development and
protection of the legitimate interest and welfare of Minnesota
business, industry, and commerce, within and outside the state;
(2) locate markets for manufacturers and processors and aid
merchants in locating and contacting markets;
(3) investigate and study conditions affecting Minnesota
business, industry, and commerce and collect and disseminate
information, and engage in technical studies, scientific
investigations, and statistical research and educational
activities necessary or useful for the proper execution of the
powers and duties of the commissioner in promoting and
developing Minnesota business, industry, and commerce, both
within and outside the state;
(4) plan and develop an effective business information
service both for the direct assistance of business and industry
of the state and for the encouragement of business and industry
outside the state to use economic facilities within the state;
(5) compile, collect, and develop periodically, or
otherwise make available, information relating to current
business conditions;
(6) conduct or encourage research designed to further new
and more extensive uses of the natural and other resources of
the state and designed to develop new products and industrial
processes;
(7) study trends and developments in the industries of the
state and analyze the reasons underlying the trends; study costs
and other factors affecting successful operation of businesses
within the state; and make recommendations regarding
circumstances promoting or hampering business and industrial
development;
(8) serve as a clearing house for business and industrial
problems of the state; and advise small business enterprises
regarding improved methods of accounting and bookkeeping;
(9) cooperate with interstate commissions engaged in
formulating and promoting the adoption of interstate compacts
and agreements helpful to business, industry, and commerce;
(10) cooperate with other state departments, and with
boards, commissions, and other state agencies, in the
preparation and coordination of plans and policies for the
development of the state and for the use and conservation of its
resources insofar as the use, conservation, and development may
be appropriately directed or influenced by a state agency;
(11) assemble and coordinate information relative to the
status, scope, cost, and employment possibilities and the
availability of materials, equipment, and labor in connection
with public works projects, state, county, and municipal;
recommend limitations on the public works; gather current
progress information with reference to public and private works
projects of the state and its political subdivisions with
reference to conditions of employment; inquire into and report
to the governor, when requested by the governor, with respect to
any program of public state improvements and the financing
thereof; and request and obtain information from other state
departments or agencies as may be needed properly to report
thereon;
(12) study changes in population and current trends and
prepare plans and suggest policies for the development and
conservation of the resources of the state;
(13) confer and cooperate with the executive, legislative,
or planning authorities of the United States and neighboring
states and provinces and of the counties and municipalities of
such neighboring states, for the purpose of bringing about a
coordination between the development of such neighboring
provinces, states, counties, and municipalities and the
development of this state;
(14) generally, gather, compile, and make available
statistical information relating to business, trade, commerce,
industry, transportation, communication, natural resources, and
other like subjects in this state, with authority to call upon
other departments of the state for statistical data and results
obtained by them and to arrange and compile that statistical
information in a manner that seems wise;
(15) prepare an annual report to the legislature estimating
and, to the extent possible, describing the number of Minnesota
companies which have left the state or moved to surrounding
states or other countries. The report should include an
estimate of the number of jobs lost by these moves, an estimate
of the total employment payroll, average hourly wage of those
jobs lost and those created in the new location, and to the
extent possible, the reasons for each company moving out of
state, if known;
(16) publish documents and annually convene regional
meetings to inform businesses, local government units,
assistance providers, and other interested persons of changes in
state and federal law related to economic development;
(17) annually convene conferences of providers of economic
development related financial and technical assistance for the
purposes of exchanging information on economic development
assistance, coordinating economic development activities, and
formulating economic development strategies;
(18) provide business with information on the economic
benefits of energy conservation and on the availability of
energy conservation assistance; and
(19) prepare, as part of biennial budget process with an
annual interim summary for the legislature, performance measures
for each business loan or grant program within the jurisdiction
of the commissioner. Measures would include source of funds for
each program, numbers of jobs proposed or promised at the time
of application and the number of jobs created, estimated number
of jobs retained, the average salary and benefits for the jobs
resulting from the program, estimated number of jobs displaced,
if any, and the number of projects approved.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116J.693,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [BOARD OF DIRECTORS.] (a) Advantage Minnesota,
Inc. shall be governed by a board of directors consisting
of voting and nonvoting members of.
(b) The voting members of the board shall be:
(1) representatives of business, professional, and industry
organizations that have been certified by the commissioner,
including Minnesota business and industry and labor
organizations as having made a financial contribution to
Advantage Minnesota, Inc. for their period of service in
accordance with matching funds requirements established by the
commissioner;
(2) representatives of labor organizations and educational
institutions, if any, as designated from time to time by the
board;
(3) the governor or a designee of the governor;
(4) the commissioner; and serving as
(5) other persons, if any, as designated from time to time
by the board.
(c) The nonvoting members representing the legislature, of
the board shall be the majority and minority leaders of the
senate and, the speaker of the house of representatives and the
minority leader of the house of representatives, or their
designees.
(d) Meetings of the board are subject to section 471.705.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116J.693,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3. [EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE; EMPLOYEES.] (a) The board
of directors, by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of a
majority of the directors, shall create an executive committee
of ten 12 members of the board including the commissioner, the
vice-chair of the board of directors, and two members of the
legislature. The executive director president of the
corporation shall be appointed by the executive committee and
ratified by the board. The executive committee shall oversee
the daily operations of the corporation.
(b) Meetings of the executive committee is are subject to
section 471.705 except when security, trade secret, potential
client lists, pending proposals, negotiations, employee matters,
or labor relations information are discussed.
(c) The employees of the corporation are not state
employees.
Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116J.693,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. [BYLAWS.] Bylaws of Advantage Minnesota, Inc.
shall provide, at a minimum, for staggered terms of not less
than four years for directors, for the qualification and removal
of directors, and for filling vacancies on the board in a manner
not inconsistent with this section.
Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116J.693,
subdivision 5, is amended to read:
Subd. 5. [OTHER COMMITTEES.] The board of directors
executive committee may, by resolution, create one or more
committees, each consisting of five directors designated by the
board of directors executive committee. The duties,
responsibilities, and limitations of each committee shall be
outlined in the resolution creating such committees.
Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116N.02,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [MEMBERSHIP.] The rural development board
consists of the commissioner of trade and economic development,
the commissioner of economic security, the commissioner of
agriculture, the president of the Minnesota Technology, Inc.
board, the chancellor of vocational technical education, the
chancellor of the state university board, the chancellor of the
state board for community colleges, the president of the
University of Minnesota or the president's designee, the chair
of the regional advisory committee, and six members from the
general public appointed by the governor, with at least one
public member from each of the regions established in section
116N.08. Two of the public members must be local elected
officials. Two of the public members must be members of farm
organizations. One public member must represent the interests
of business, and one public member must represent the interests
of organized labor.
Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 116N.06, is
amended to read:
116N.06 [RURAL INVESTMENT GUIDE.]
The board, after appropriate study and public hearings as
necessary, shall adopt a comprehensive state rural investment
guide consisting of policy statements, objectives, standards,
and program criteria to guide state agencies in establishing and
implementing programs relating to rural development. The guide
must recognize the community and economic needs, the food and
agricultural policy, and the resources of rural Minnesota, and
provide a plan to coordinate and allocate public and private
resources to the rural areas of the state. The board shall
submit the guide to the appropriate committees of the
legislature. The guide shall be prepared every fourth year.
Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 446A.03,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. [BOARD ACTIONS.] (a) A majority of the authority,
excluding vacancies, constitutes a quorum to conduct its
business, to exercise its powers, and for all other purposes.
(b) The board may conduct its business by any technological
means available, including teleconference calls or interactive
video, that allows for an interaction between members. If a
meeting is conducted under this paragraph, a specific location
must be available for the public to attend the meeting and at
least one member must be present at that location.
Presented to the governor May 23, 1995
Signed by the governor May 25, 1995, 8:45 a.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes