Small Business Conference
Also known as:
Conference on Small Business
Function: The conference was to be a forum for discussion of small business in Minnesota.
History:
The Minnesota Conference on Small Business was established by the legislature in 1980 (Laws 1980 c613) to be a forum for discussion of small business in Minnesota. The bill created a commission to plan and organize regional meetings, conduct a state conference, and prepare a report to the governor and the legislature. The commission had nine members: three appointed by the governor, three by the house speaker, and three by the senate committee on rules and administration. The chairman was a member of the Minnesota delegation to the 1980 White House Conference on Small Business, upon which the Minnesota conference was patterned. The responsibility of the Minnesota Commission on Small Business was to provide a process for small business owners to meet, to make recommendations for the betterment of the small business community, to reach a consensus, and to be heard as one voice in the state legislature. Regional, district, and state meetings were held from June through November, 1981, with over 1100 people participating. The majority of the delegates to the state conference (November 1981) were selected at the regional meetings. In addition, each legislator was allowed to appoint one delegate and each conference commissioner was permitted to appoint up to ten delegates. All delegates to the 1980 White House Conference were made ex officio delegates also. The final report, including the proposals, was submitted to the governor and legislature. The legislative appropriation for the conference and commission ended in March 1982 (Laws 1981 c14) and was not renewed.
Entries for this agency in the Annual Compilation and Statistical Report of Multi-Member Agencies Report:
1981, 1980.
Note: This report provides membership details as well as meeting information and a summary of the group's activities.
Agency heads:
Commissioners: Larry Altringer, Melvin "Jay" Beasley, Victoria Davis, Richard Lauber, Don St. Claire, Curtis Sjoberg, Jody Vinopal, Vernon R. Wexler, Eugene R. Wright.
Documents/Articles:
News clippings and documents. Agencies Notebook Collection, 1980-1982.
Record last updated:
02/09/2011
All information on this group from the Library’s collection of agency notebooks has been digitized. These
materials are incorporated into the “documents/articles” section of the record. Please contact a librarian with any questions. The Minnesota Agencies database is a work in progress.