Small Business Caucus created in the MN House

Posted at 9:05 AM on October 21, 2009 by Tom Scheck

A bipartisan group of thirty members of the Minnesota House are banding together to create the Small Business Caucus. The goal is to find ways to improve Minnesota's small business community. DFL Rep. Maria Ruud of Minnetonka is co-chairing the Caucus with DFL Rep. Denise Dittrich of Champlin. Ruud described why the caucus was created:

"The goal is to create policies that may make Minnesota more competitive in small business start-up, sustainability and growth. One goal is to come up with at least one policy proposal we can introduce and hopefully pass this session. We also hope to educate legislators as to the unique concerns of small business, increase our awareness about available resources and be more effective at communicating them to small business owners or interested individuals."

The Small Business Caucus includes 22 DFLers and eight Republicans.

Update: Here's a list of the members:

Democrats: Denise Dittrich, Maria Ruud, Kathy Bynaert, Julie Bunn, Lyndon Carlson, Patti Fritz, Paul Gardner, Melissa Hortman, Gail Kulick-Jackson, Diane Loeffler, Sandy Masin, Joe Mullery, Erin Murphy, Kim Norton, Mike Obermueller, Roger Reinert, Paul Rosenthal, Bev Scalze, Nora Slawik, Marsha Swails, Cy Thao and Andy Welti.

Republicans: Sarah Anderson, Mike Beard, Keith Downey, Mary Liz Holberg, Tim Kelly, Carol McFarlane, Ron Shimanski and Dean Urdahl.

Update: Here's the news release that just went out.

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