Getting involved
Visiting lawmakers, joining organizations help small business owners have a say at the Capitol
M
usician. Videographer. Graphic designer. Inventor. Business owner. Candidate for the Legislature. Todd Mikkelson has had a varied career. Currently he owns the RM Group LLC, which sells the Rain Maker Spray Rack and other products for water and air testing of windows and other items. But he finds time to stay informed and involved at the state Capitol in St. Paul, educating and testifying on issues related to small business. This isn’t a new interest for Mikkelson. He ran for the state House as a Democrat in 2012 and 2014. He lost, but says several party officials congratulated him for narrowing the margin over previous elections in his district. During those contests, he met a lot of influential House members and learned a lot about navigating the legislative process in St. Paul. He’s also picked up some pointers on how to have his voice heard. Other small business owners can, as well, he says. Whether it’s taxes, the cost of health care, mandatory paid leave or another issue of importance to you that nobody else has thought of yet, your opinion can and should be heard – but, Mikkelson says, you have to invest the time to make that happen. Go to the Secretary of State’s website, he says. Find your district. Attend a meeting. “Start out,” he says, “by going to your party’s local committee hearings to start finding out what people are doing. Go online and start looking at some of these bills. Watch Almanac at the Capitol on Channel 2.”
It’s going to take time
by Andrew Tellijohn
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TOM DUNN
16
UPSIZE MARCH • APRIL 2019
Mikkelson was a musician when he got pulled in as part owner of a video company in the mid-1990s. The biggest client was an international window company and his firm had made safety and promotional videos. They wanted video of a spray test on windows that were already in houses. “When I was out doing these videos the equipment the
www.upsizemag.com
