Advocacy Priorities
This region must be accessible and affordable in order to attract and retain the best and brightest talent. The Chamber advocates on these key issues to ensure that the MSP region remains competitive nationally.
Transit
The Chamber is leading efforts regionally to invest in our transit network. We must continue to grow our coalition to demand development of a comprehensive transportation system.
Housing
Working with local partners the Chamber is advancing housing policies and initiatives that will create new units and support regional growth.
Workforce
The Chamber is engaging with partners to invest in efforts to not only attract, but also educate, the future workforce of the state.
Want to work on one of these issues? All of them? Join our Advocacy Committee. Contact Grace Waltz at gwaltz@mplschamber.com.
Legislative Session Recaps
Transit
Metro Transit provided more than 81 million rides in 2017 on 130 different routes. 80% of those riders used services provided by Metro Transit to go to either work or school. 40% of workers in downtown Minneapolis get to work using transit . At rush hour, buses move the equivalent of one and a half lanes of traffic.
Workforce
Nearly 75% of our region’s businesses and employers have a difficult time finding qualified employees. By 2022 the state of Minnesota will need to fill 550,000 jobs in new and existing openings. 70% of those new job openings will require training or education beyond high school.
Creating a qualified and diverse workforce is necessary to both maintain the competitiveness and strength of the MSP region’s businesses, but to also stimulate new business growth and development.
Key Data
- Those who live in the MSP region have a $73,231 median household income.
- 45% of that income is spent on housing and transportation expenses.
- The net migration of 25 to 34-year-olds in 2017 was 8,951 people.
- The total population growth of the region was 0.9% over the last year, which means that we are not attracting the number of workers needed to remain competitive.
- We must ensure shared prosperity in a rapidly diversifying region. 23.6% of the population are people of color, and that is expected to increase.
Sources
1. www.hennepin.us/workforce
2. MSPwin.org
3. Metropolitan Council: metrocouncil.org
4. Minnesota Housing Partnership: mhponline.org
5. metrocouncil.org/METC/files/63/6347e827-e9ce-4c44-adff-a6afd8b48106.pdf
6. www.metrotransit.org/rail-lines-set-records-as-metro-transit-ridership-tops-819-million-in-2017
7. www.startribune.com/counterpoint-in-the-twin-cities-area-transit-is-needed-wanted-and-it-works/428044163
8. Metropolitan Council: metrocouncil.org
Want to see where we got these numbers as well as see other other Regional Indicators? Click here.
