 The Minnesota Chamber made a stop in Brainerd today as part of their statewide policy tour. Our Sarah Winkelman shares the key points on the Chamber's 2018 legislative agenda. The Minnesota Chamber statewide policy tour is making 12 stops throughout Minnesota to best prepare for the 2018 legislative session. Get around the state here directly from employers about the issues that they care about and make sure when we go to the legislature we're going with a consensus agenda. It's well informed and we understand what's foremost on employers minds. Today issues related to the workforce shortage were discussed at length. For the past 15 years the state of Minnesota has been losing more people domestically than adding so what that means is more people are moving out of Minnesota than moving in from other states so that's a challenge for us. Also a top concern for Minnesotans is the high business taxes. We have a lot of work to do to be more competitive and we will be pushing with the legislature and talking with them non-stop about how to be more competitive on tax rates. That's always a top concern for employers it might even be more so this year with the federal tax changes. And with many other changes on the way in the political landscape. Governor's race, Senate races, legislative races, it's a political year and that'll dominate a lot of what's going to happen. But even with some uncertainty there are areas the Minnesota Chamber is happy to keep as it is. We are renowned for this fabulous reliable, smart, capable workforce. It's one of our greatest assets and we want to keep that going. Along with a strong creative workforce. Minnesotans are very smart and very capable of developing new things, goods, services that helps us maintain a competitive edge and a very robust economy comparative to the rest of the nation. With this state ranked fourth in the nation for patents per capita. It's always a wonderful opportunity to hear what's going on at the state level and how as a group of businesses we might be able to affect change. Change to create a stable community. A lot of times when you don't put those additional burdens on businesses they invest back into their communities and back into their people and if we can help bring that message to the state legislature that's exactly what we want to do. Reporting in Brainerd, Sarah Winkleman, Lakeland News. The statewide policy tour will make a stop in Bemidji on Thursdays. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.