WALKER – Tourism plays a major role in Minnesota’s economy and Rep. Matt Bliss, R-Pennington, on Tuesday hosted the House’s chairman on that subject for a meeting with Walker-area officials and stakeholders to discuss issues impacting them.
Bliss said he and House Subcommittee on Mining, Forestry and Tourism Chairman Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, spoke with resort owners, business owners and members of the Leech Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Different parts of the state all have their unique economic challenges,” Bliss said. “The economy in Walker and our area in general largely hinges on recreation-based tourism. Tourism is a $14 billion industry in our state, accounting for around 17 percent of our state’s revenue. The people we talked with in Walker really did a great job of sharing their perspectives so we can look for ways of making improvements back in St. Paul to help the tourism industry thrive in our state.”
Bliss indicated a shortage of workforce housing in the area is one of the key subjects they discussed. Cities such as Walker – population, 933 – strain to meet demand when the actual number of people in town balloons during the summertime tourism season.
“There aren’t enough available employees to fill jobs in the Walker area and, if they do locate workers ready to come to town to take a job, there isn’t enough affordable housing to accommodate them,” Bliss said. “The House has passed reforms that will allow more units of affordable housing to be built in Minnesota by better using federal housing bonding authority the state receives, but more work remains on this issue.”
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