|
|
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon chats with community members during a visit to Pipestone on Thursday, July 10. Simon talked primarily about elections and business services offered by his office, and took questions and comments from those in attendance. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
Simon spoke with locals about elections, business services and other topics
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon made a stop in Pipestone the afternoon of Thursday, July 10 as part of a two-day, seven-county tour of southwest Minnesota. Simon said during his visit to the PIPESTONE Annex Conference Room that he regularly tries to visit all 87 counties in the state and he was working on his ninth such tour.
“This is pretty much the best part of my job right here,” Simon said. “I say that because it took me about five minutes into this job to figure out that the worst thing anyone in this position could do — me or anyone else — is just sit behind a desk in St. Paul all day.”
About 10 people attended Simon’s visit during which he spoke about elections and business services provided by the Secretary of State’s Office. At the end of the roughly one-hour visit, Simon took questions and asked some questions of those in attendance.
The Secretary of State’s Office oversees elections and Simon spoke about the election duties of his office; high voter turnout that is typical in Minnesota, which he credited to “good laws and a good pro voting culture;” and voter outreach efforts. He said the Secretary of State’s Office is the source for election information and can always use help getting that information out to the public.
“What we have found is we need to rely on trusted voices and trusted messengers in communities to deliver this very basic information,” Simon said.
He said that could include a local organization sending out an email before an election with a link to the Secretary of State’s Office’s website or having information available at local events such as the county fair. Such information is readily available by contacting the Secretary of State’s Office through its voting and elections website at mnvotes.gov.
Simon said business services actually comprise a larger share of what his office does than elections.
“We like to call ourselves kind of a welcome mat for Minnesota businesses because very often the very first thing someone’s going to do when they found a business is not hire someone, not get an office, not buy inventory — it’s make the thing come alive legally,” Simon said.
That’s done by filing documents with the Secretary of State’s Office.
Simon highlighted the Minnesota Business Snapshot, which The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office started a few years ago. Information is gathered through a voluntary survey during the business registration and renewal process. The information that is gathered is available at sos.mn.gov/snapshot. Simon said the data is searchable by location, type of business or other data point.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon listens to comments and questions from a group of Pipestone community members during a visit to the city on Thursday, July 10. The visit was part of a two-day, seven-county tour through southwest Minnesota. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
The voluntary survey asks five questions about how many full-time employees the business has; if the owner is a woman, part of a community of color, a veteran, disabled or an immigrant; what type of business it is; if the business is a full-time or part-time endeavor; and the gross revenue.
“Anyone can skip any of these questions,” Simon said. “They can fill out one of the five, five out of the five, two out of the five, anything.”
Simon also spoke about a new law passed in the recent legislative session that takes effect Jan. 1 that allows the Secretary of State’s Office to look into business filing fraud and address it. He said business filing fraud includes people who file either a fake business or try to hijack an existing business.
“Now if this happens, no one has to lawyer up and spend thousands of dollars, no one has to go through the court process,” Simon said. “They can go through us.”
Simon spent the last part of his visit taking questions and asking what challenges the area was facing and what people were proud of about the area. Some of the challenges those in attendance said the area was facing included business development, bringing new business to town, childcare, workforce, business retention, housing, infrastructure needs and others. Simon said workforce, housing and childcare were among the most common challenges he hears about when visiting communities.
Some of the things those in attendance said they were most proud of about the area were businesses, capital campaigns for large projects, the new elementary school, blight clean up efforts, new housing and business developments, the new library and other amenities, public and private partnerships, and more.