Q&A: Greater MN Partnership’s new leader outlines goals

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The Greater Minnesota Partnership has selected Scott McMahon to serve as the nonprofit’s new executive director.

McMahon is a former lobbyist with government relations firm Flaherty & Hood P.A., and has been with the GMNP since 2017, according to a news release from GMNP.

He will lead the organization in its goal of advocating for economic development policies and resources that benefit greater Minnesota. Over 60 businesses, chambers of commerce, economic development authorities, higher education institutions, cities and nonprofits make up the nonprofit.

McMahon is stepping into the role during a challenging time, when greater Minnesota faces the ongoing pandemic, child care shortages, broadband issues and more.

McMahon is replacing Dan Dorman, who led the organization since its founding in 2013. Dorman led the nonprofit through the founding of the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program and the Job Training Incentive Program.

Prior to his work with Flaherty & Hood, McMahon spent more than a decade working in higher education, first as director of government relations at the Minnesota Private College Council and then as associate vice president for external affairs at Saint Mary’s University.

McMahon has a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Nonprofit Administration from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

Q: Let’s start by talking about the work of the Greater Minnesota partnership. Can you give me a brief overview of what your work is?

A: The Greater Minnesota partnership really focuses in on advocating for stakeholder policies and investments that promote economic prosperity in greater Minnesota. And so we’re really trying to figure out what are the barriers or opportunities that we have for job expansion, job growth [and] workforce development throughout all of greater Minnesota to make sure our communities are strong, our businesses are healthy and the residents are thriving.

Q: When did you join the partnership and in what role?

A: I’ve been with the partnership for about [four] years now. The partnership started about eight years ago, when a number of city leaders and business leaders across greater Minnesota realized we needed a new voice for advocating for economic prosperity in greater Minnesota. And so, at the time when it started, we hired Dan Dorman, a former legislator and economic development director from Albert Lea, to be the executive director. And he’s moving towards — slowly — into retirement. So the board brought me on board on the first of January to take over for Dan in that position.

Q: How’s it [gone] since Jan. 1?

A: It’s an interesting time to be an advocate in Minnesota. Obviously the pandemic is impacting everybody. But around the state capitol, the building is accessible to staff and legislators, and everybody else is outside. … It’s an interesting time to try and champion public policies, when there’s a split between those who are making the decisions and those who are trying to educate policymakers and advocates on behalf of the issues we care about.

Q: Let’s talk a little bit about the work you want to do in your first year. What are your goals [for the] Greater Minnesota Partnership in your first year?

A: For me, success is defined by two different areas. One is how we drive the capitol on championing these issues. One of the challenges we have this year on this is the state [is] facing a budget deficit. And so between now and when session wraps up in the middle of May, the state needs to set the budget. They need to address a $1.2 billion budget deficit. And so that’s likely going to be the conversation: [about] budget cuts, which could impact areas that are important to greater Minnesota, and [conversations] could deal with discussion about tax increases. … Obviously, in the next six months, we want to be really involved in those conversations to make sure that the priorities of greater Minnesota are heard and acted upon.

Beyond that, we have an organization we are dealing with. So how do we grow the organization? How to make it work? We are a membership organization, made up of local governments, businesses, chambers of commerce, higher education, nonprofits and so on. … The health and vitality of the organization [and] our ability to be impactful is really driven by those that we have at the table. And so one of the things that I want to see over the next two to three years is growth in our memberships — that we have the voices and we’re being informed by those who are on the ground in greater Minnesota.

Q: How do you select what priorities you’re going to put forward in the legislative session?

A: We have a board of directors, made up of all the different stakeholders. … They work through the process and go from there. And the reality is, a lot of these issues have been around for a while: The housing crisis … isn’t a new thing. We know it’s really hard to make the finances work for new construction in a lot of our communities. But they do change.

Two examples: One is, three years ago, child care wasn’t a big priority for us, and that has exploded for us. And we realize that businesses are now making decisions about what communities to locate in and what cities to grow in [based on] availability of child care for their employees. [That’s] a top variable that they make the decision on.

Another one … that has really exploded for us is broadband. It’s an issue we’ve been working on for some time. But there’s a very different view on it now because we realize as students have been in virtual learning over the past 10 months [and as] workers have not been in their offices — that reduced broadband capacity in the community is a real hindrance in some of these things going forward. So there’s a renewed energy around it, both at the federal level and the state level.

Q: I wanted to talk about challenges that are facing outstate Minnesota right now. What do those look like for you and how do you plan to advocate for those at the capitol?

A: We have a lot of great opportunities in greater Minnesota, but we do have challenges. … You wander through downtown Minneapolis or downtown St. Paul, and they’re pretty sparse as far as workers there right now. And a lot of those folks are at their cabins in greater Minnesota working. And so part of our question is: What does the economy in greater Minnesota look like? As we get a year or two outside of COVID, do we have the point in which the big law firms have their employees scattered across the state working? And what does that mean for us moving forward? We know that we have a lot of great job opportunities in greater Minnesota, but we don’t always have the workforce that we need. And so, what does workforce reform and workforce retraining look like going forward?

Obviously one of one of the big challenges that we have [to] hit on is the housing situation. It’s really hard to get new housing construction built in greater Minnesota because a lot of times the cost to build is greater than … the value that that property [is] to be appraised at once it’s done. And so how do you get past that … private sector equilibrium point, without some sort of state intervention [around] issues?

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