NISSWA-St. Paul mayor and DFL governor candidate Chris Coleman spoke on economic development success stories from his city that greater Minnesota could mimic to help bring big-city size checks to towns in resort country.
Coleman was Friday's keynote speaker for the Economic Development Association of Minnesota's 2017 Summer Conference at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa. The association celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
The creation of CHS Field-home of the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball team-featured prominently as one of Coleman's examples of economic development turnarounds.
The baseball field building project received a combination of private money from the Saints club and public funding from the city. The city paid $19 million outright in addition to a $5 million internal loan, about 40 percent of the total $63 million price tag. Coleman said its completion resulted in revitalizing southern St. Paul, creating a place where trendy millennials-so sought after by employers-felt attracted to. An office park is planned for construction near the stadium site. The structure also hosts more than 100 non-baseball events a year, including a cat video festival, which will resume its annual tradition at the field Aug. 8.
During the question and answer session, Coleman was asked about his stance on the $15 an hour minimum wage, which neighboring Minneapolis approved the same day Coleman spoke.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Couldn't I talk about anything else?" Coleman joked.
He went on to acknowledge that while wealth was increasingly being concentrated in the upper strata of society, increased minimum wage would not necessarily solve that problem. There were other considerations to take in rather than the wage itself-health insurance and other benefits, he said. $15 an hour was "kind of arbitrary" a number to settle on, he said. The $15 an hour figure was also geared toward larger metropolises like New York and Los Angeles where the cost of living is higher, Coleman pointed out, implying it would not necessarily fit for the Twin Cities.
"It's economics, it's really complex," Coleman said. "I think that everyone agrees that there should be decent wages for folks, but the question is, how much can the government sector (step in)?
Coleman, a DFLer, announced his run for Minnesota governor in December. On Friday, his campaign schedule events included an information meeting with Brainerd Mayor Ed Menk, as well as a meet and greet.
