We need as accurate of a count as possible by the end of the day tomorrow as to how many roses you have sold. If you are not going to be at the meeting, please e-mail Bob Russell at robert@russelllawoffice.com or text him on his cell (218-205-6944) with your name, and how many roses you have sold at this point and how many more you think you can sell. And keep selling! Remember, distribution will be on Thursday, November 14th!
The invocation was offered by Dave Peters while Keith Olson was our song leader. Erika Lahti was with us as was Honorary Member Elaine Olson. Two Student Athletes from M-State were introduced: Sidney Hovland from Underwood who is contributing to a very successful volleyball team (21-4 at the time of our meeting) and Grant Inniger, from Barnesville, an accomplished golfer.
Our Brags and Fine segment was extensive: Steve A. – heading back to NY, will be back in 3 weeks; Katie J. – her son Theo graduated with Sydney, one of our Student Athletes from the college (Katie said that she is a good athlete but, more importantly a much better person); Kieth O. was in in Billings MT to visit a good friend and delivered 165 meals to the homeless and needy, assisting the Salvation Army and also gave kudos to the organization; Randy – he now has a hockey player and asked us all to pray for him; Elaine – gave a shout out for the Humane Society and Keith; Tim H. was happy to be back from a long trip to see all of his grandchildren; and Hal L. thanked Sydney and Grant for coming and welcomed Jordan back to Fergus Falls. Finally Erika Lahti was happy to report she went to the regional meeting for outbound students and that she is continuing to get her paperwork in order; she is excited to find out where she is going to call home for a year.
Our program was Jordan Rassmussen, a native to Fergus Falls. His parents are Donnovan and Renae Rassmussen. He is the sixth generation in his family to live in Otter Tail County. His great-great-great-great grandparents were some of the very first settlers in Maplewood Township. After graduating from high school, Jordan went for two years to M-State and then to Harvard University. He also went to the University of Havana, Cuba. After graduation he went to work as a consultant for McKinsey and Company. He traveled the globe during his time there. As a consultant with McKinsey, he was able to work in New Zealand for six months and also got to work with the President of Sierra Leone, Africa during the Ebola crisis. The last year of consulting, he spent 250 nights in hotels.
Jordan later went to work for Bain Capital. Jordan was ready to settle down and after dating for eight years he got married to Emma DeMartelaere, another Fergus Falls native. Both Scott and Emma are able to work locally. Jordan's program is about how “people vote with their feet”. His worldly experience gave him a new perspective on the American experience. Cuba in particular showed him how communism affects the people living there and that is why so many flee to the US to be able to prosper in a free society. The way to succeed in Cuba was to show loyalty to the government, be part of government and to realize that the government is the only solution. He has seen how socialism does not work. Because of the many socialist views he has heard lately, Jordan is worried about the rhetoric that is floating around using other countries as example sof socialism at work. For instance, in Denmark, citizens make 50% less than Americans on average yet their mortgage rates are 25% higher and only 9% of Danes feel that faith is important. Jordan sees Minnesota trending toward socialism as well and because of that people are leaving. Look ar Fargo/Moorhead or Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. All because of higher taxation. Since 2002, Minnesota has had a net loss of US citizens migrating out of the state. Higher taxation seems to be the main reason for people still in the workforce. Along with higher taxation, the citizens of MN benefit from higher unemployment benefits and that encourages lower income folks to move here. Minnesota has been growing in terms of the segment of the population that have a household income of 0-$25K. Because higher income folks are moving out and lower income folks are moving in, Minnesota has lost an estimated $2 billion in tax revenues over the last 10 years. Minnesota has the fifth highest personal and corporate tax rate in the US -- it is three times that of the ND tax rate. All the while, Minnesota state spending is up 50% in the past eight years. It is surpassing our GDP. Minnesota spending is 50% higher than Texas and South Dakota.
Jordan has worked with some larger companies, that, because of the regulations and red tape here in Minnesota, decided to go elsewhere. trü Shrimp, a company that grows shrimp here in the Midwest by using high tech chemistry to make sea water, wanted to have its headquarters in Minnesota, it was going to take one to three years for the permits needed to do business here, so they moved to South Dakota. Visit https://www.agweek.com/taxonomy/term/376414 for more information on this. Enbridge Energy, a company that wants to replace its Line 3 pipline would have to wait five years to get the permits from our state government. Jordan is an advocate of freedom, capitalism and our democratic republic and encourages us all to embrace freedom.
