By Mark Fischenich
The Free Press
MANKATO — It’s something Rochester has done for years. And St. Cloud. And Duluth. Even Bemidji and Alexandria.
On Thursday, Mankato joins the crowd with its first-ever Greater Mankato Day at the Capitol, and Jonathan Zierdt is fired up and optimistic about how it will turn out.
More than 140 people will be traveling from Mankato-North Mankato to the Capitol, more than 25 booths will be set up by area organizations and businesses and more than 200 lawmakers have been invited — more than once.
“They’ve probably gotten a half-dozen invitations already,” said Zierdt, executive director of Greater Mankato Growth.
On Thursday afternoon, lawmakers will get a personal invitation as the community members fan out over the Capitol complex to invite officials to the nearby Hilton Garden Inn in the St. Paul City Center. That’s where the exhibits will be set up, the hors d’oeuvres will be served and the schmoozing will be done, starting at 5:30 p.m.
The goal of the entire effort is to give state officials a sense of the Mankato area’s growth, the breadth of its economy and its role as an integral part of Minnesota. For many Minnesotans, their perception of Mankato might be much more limited — maybe the notion of Minnesota State University and Vikings training camp.
“It is that, and so much more,” Zierdt said. “That’s the point of this — to start to change that perception.”
Mankato City Manager Pat Hentges sees the event as part of Mankato’s “coming out” as one of the major cities in the state.
“We know we're a regional center,” Hentges told the city council recently. “We believe we’re a regional center. But not always is the message portrayed that way.”
State Rep. Kathy Brynaert, DFL-Mankato, said it’s the right time for Mankato to formally introduce itself to lawmakers from throughout Minnesota and to others working at the Capitol. The Mankato-North Mankato area, along with adjoining towns such as Skyline and Eagle Lake, officially became a “metropolitan statistical area” when the federal government determined that the population had surpassed 50,000.
“It makes this an opportune moment to be doing this,” Brynaert said. “... Here’s a time to take notice of us.”
Brynaert has tried to attend the events hosted by other cities, and she said they have a subtle, indirect impact on lawmakers. They provide faces to attach to communities when legislation comes forward, and they provide a deeper understanding of what a city is about.
On Thursday, lawmakers will learn that the stone they see at the new Twins stadium comes from the Mankato area, the book they read to their grandchild at bedtime is printed by a North Mankato publisher, that the kettle corn they love to snack on is produced here, Zierdt said. They’ll learn about Mankato’s importance as a regional health care center, as a manufacturer of goods sold around the nation and world, as a base for important nonprofit organizations.
“At the end of the day, you want them to have a grasp of the role and importance of this area to the vitality of the state,” he said.
