Last night I ordered wine with dinner and the waiter asked for my I.D. I replied, “Do I look that young?!”…

(scroll to bottom)

Join us this Friday, along with our friends at the Apple Valley Chamber, to celebrate the gorgeous new retail barn at Pahl’s Market! What a way to kick off the weekend, surrounded by the sights and smells of SPRING!

We are excited to celebrate retired law enforcement officer, Kiel Rushton’s new space in Lakeville! Come check it out!

Our CELEBRATE TOURISM program this year features a behind the scenes look at the Minnesota State Fair! Reserve your luncheon spot for May 9th today!

Thank you to Gary’s for hosting another great lunch mob this month! We had so much fun, we forgot to take a photo! If you are looking for a casual, pop-in, networking opportunity, you should swing over to a lunch mob. You order off the menu, pay your own tab, and get to have small group conversation with a handful of other professionals.

See you next month!

Thank you to Ellen Able with the Yellow Ribbon for sharing all that this program does to support our service members and their families. If you are looking for a new volunteer opportunity, you might want to check them out!

See you next month – you will NOT want to miss this one!

HOUSE Bills:

• BUSINESS, and their status.
• LABOR and EMPLOYMENT, and their status.

SENATE Bills:

• SMALL BUSINESS, and their status.
• LABOR and EMPLOYMENT, and their status.

Last Thursday was our annual Chamber Day at the Capitol with the MN Chamber. We received session updates on taxes, permitting, and other business issues. We also had lunch with our Lakeville delegation to discuss our questions and concerns about multiple topics related to our local business community. Thank you to the Lakeville Chamber members who joined us for the day and a special thank you to our legislators – Senator Zach Duckworth, and Representatives Jon Koznick and Jeff Witte, for spending the time with us.

Congratulations to these businesses on their milestone anniversaries!

Check out the latest edition of Local Business Today from Sun Thisweek. Several members are highlighted here. If you want to learn more about how to highlight your business in the local paper, contact Mike Albert at 763-614-8815 or mike.albert@apgecm.com .

Thank you to all who joined our monthly Access & Issues meeting last Friday. We covered a lot of ground.

Here are some follow up items that may interest you.

MN Dementia Friends - Dementia Friendly Cities  

Virtual Info Session on Friday 4/26, 7:30 am, Session 514 if you look it up on the website. We discussed how we, as a business community, can start to become a Dementia friendly community. Thank you to Councilmember John Bermel and Representative Jon Koznick for spearheading this effort. Businesses, and your employees, can attend a free virtual workshop to learn more. The next one is April 26.

Solid Waste survey

Commissioner Mary Liz Holberg is encouraging businesses to take this survey. Dakota County is revisiting its solid waste plan and it is important that they hear from both businesses and residents (there is a survey for each). The survey is open until April 21 and should only take about 10 minutes to complete. 

Annual Earth Day event 

This Saturday! 11am-1pm at Central Maintenance Facility (7570 179^th Street W)

Suds for Scholars 

Next Thursday! We want to get about 50 more people there. 100% of single ticket sales go to our scholarship bucket. We have 39 high school senior applications. Last year we gave out ten $1,000 scholarships and in May our Foundation will decide how many we can give out this year. 

May 11 - Mother's Day Tea at LeDuc

Time: 3:30pm

Location: LeDuc Historic Estate (Hastings, MN)

Fees/RSVP: $40 per person ($35 for members)

Bring your mother to celebrate Mother's Day with the LeDuc Historic Estate! Join the LeDuc Estate as we celebrate Mother's Day with you and your loved ones! Enjoy a three-course meal paired with a variety of teas and you enjoy a presentation about Mary LeDuc and her relationship with her 4 children, Minnie, Florence, Willie, and Alice.

Registrants will also receive a tour of the house as we present our Victorian Women-themed tour. Seating is limited, so please reserve your spot today.

Thank you for your support!