Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/dane-smith/)
The 40th annual summit meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures was held in Minneapolis last week and lawmakers from 50 states and 26 countries fittingly honored one of NCSL’s most important founders, Martin Olav Sabo. Continue Reading
Greater MSP is a relatively new and ambitious effort to attract and retain economic development in the Twin Cities region, and the group’s evolving theme has to be one of the most intelligent and expansive in the nation. This week’s annual meeting featured speakers and a new mission statement that emphasized cultural connectedness and social collaboration in a way I’ve never quite seen before from a business group. Here’s the new and improved theme, handed out on glossy cards to the hundreds of partners and supporters who attended the up-tempo event at the Guthrie Theater. It’s a speech that might be coming soon to an elevator near you. I added the underlining. Continue Reading
In our last post, we described a national Strive Together movement that is gathering momentum from our largest cities to our smallest towns. Strive networks organize a total community effort around closing educational opportunity gaps and improving performance from cradle-to-career, increasing post-secondary attainment and workforce readiness. This strategy is big-hearted but also hard-headed; it relies heavily on data and evidence-tested intervention, “everybody-in’’ partnerships between public, private and non-profit organizations, and pushing for results and measurable outcomes. Continue Reading
Steve Berg’s excellent op-ed that rethinks our Twin Cities brand and a similar essay published last week by Jay Walljasper and sponsored by the McKnight Foundation should inspire plenty of creative feedback from us Twin Cities and Minnesota enthusiasts. Both articles feed on the outstanding work done so far by Greater MSP, a new organization focused on more effective marketing of the Twin Cities metropolitan area as a great place to live and to do business. Continue Reading
Joe Selvaggio is a celebrated former priest who has spent nearly half a century helping poor folks become more productive and less poor, lately through the MicroGrants program and before that, Project for Pride in Living. Continue Reading
I’ve heard infinite versions of “don’t tax me” or “taxing me or my customers more will destroy my business AND the economy” in my decades under the dome. And last week’s opposition at a House hearing to ending sales tax exemptions on business services was typical in many respects. Just because these fears often turn out unfounded _ our economy was performing better, in the 1990s, when taxes were higher _ doesn’t mean these specific concerns shouldn’t be heeded. Continue Reading
We have this week a confluence of events that ought to lift our hopes and sharpen our resolve to reduce racial and economic inequality in our state and nation, and to build a more inclusive prosperity. Continue Reading
Policy enthusiasts and history buffs will enjoy Continue Reading
You are a policy-maker and you have a tough choice between two major development proposals for the same site on a major light-rail line or transitway. All things being equal, which do you choose: a major employer or a large housing complex?
For lovers of Minnesota, for history buffs and for students and practitioners of public policy, I highly recommend two outstanding books released this week.