February 2025 Board Member Newsletter Article

A Great Conference!

Nort Johnson
President/CEO
Faribault Area Chamber of Commerce

What a nice MCCE conference last week! Definitely want to share a big Hat’s Off for Robin Anthony and all the Stillwater hospitality professionals. Great property, delicious food, perfect activities and a lively atmosphere. Thanks so much as well bringing in the Mayor and Police Chief to share their enthusiasm for their respective Chamber relationships. A model for us all!

Thanks also to the MN Chamber Team for the great execution of the conference content and overall organization of the event. Always a pleasure to attend such a well-done summit. The programming/scripting/timing were all top notch once again.

I also want express gratitude for the panelists, breakout session leaders, and speakers for sharing your time and talent with the rest of us. We have SOOO much to learn from each other and your generosity is appreciated.

I think the section that echoed best for me was the compelling story behind our housing crisis here in Minnesota really drives the point home about our hampered ability to compete with our neighboring states (economically) due to a burdensome regulatory environment. It’s good to know that we have some innovative minds working on solutions. Let’s keep this important topic on the radar and support a better environment here in our state for expansion of workforce home-ownership models.

The highlight of this event – as always was the networking with all you special professionals. I had the privilege to spend some time with our newest Execs to start the conference and what a good crew! Please take a moment to reach out as appropriate to see how they’re doing and new Execs – anyone of the experienced professionals you met would be happy to have a call from you if you need a little confidence building conversation about pretty much anything. DON’T be afraid to reach out!

Stay golden friends. Remember – you make a difference everyday.