[ST. PAUL, MN] – Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Commissioner Steve Grove led a roundtable discussion today about empowering Minnesota women in the workforce and in small business to rebuild a Minnesota economy that is more inclusive.

“Building a more inclusive economy requires that we work to help women achieve equity in the workplace and that we support women entrepreneurs as they bring their business dreams to reality,” said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan. “We are taking this moment as an opportunity to change it up, and where we have been Minnesota nice around issues that affect women and BIPOC communities that we say enough is enough and we are hitting reset and that’s our expectation going forward.”

“We have to approach this with nothing less than a sense of urgency,” said DEED Commissioner Grove. “If we can’t get women to participate at the rate they otherwise naturally would and not create the support systems for that to be possible, then our economy won’t recover the way it could.”

More than 575,000 Minnesota women have filed for Unemployment Insurance since the pandemic started and women are more heavily concentrated in hardest hit industries, like Accommodation and Food Services and Other Services. Women are more at risk for long-term unemployment during this current pandemic recession not only because of occupations women are more likely to work in, but also because of child care and family care needs during the pandemic.

Today’s discussion made clear that efforts to improve career training opportunities, increase access to affordable high quality child care, and provide paid family medical leave are all essential elements in rebuilding a more equitable Minnesota economy. The Walz-Flanagan Administration has put forward legislative proposals to address these issues and others critical to breaking down barriers to women achieving employment equity.

Other key needs shared by discussion participants included providing incentives for employers to expand flexibility in working conditions and providing more support for women small business owners and entrepreneurs.

“When we surveyed our entrepreneurs late summer about 50% who were entrepreneurs and parents were working less paid hours...but the amount of unpaid labor that they are doing for children, elders youth has gone up...so they were having a hard time managing the level of work getting put on them that they are not being paid for,” said Alex Steinman, Co-founder and CEO of The Coven.

“We are seeing more startup businesses… a lot of women who were displaced from workforce are now thinking ‘I only used to make cakes for friends and family on the weekend could I make some money for that?” said Jaylana Peters, Loan Officer at WomenVenture.

“For BIPOC women we are also talking about intersectionality of not just gender but race and class,” said Mai Moua, COO of Hmong American Partnership. “No matter what capital you can provide, no matter what technical assistance you can provide as a community-based org unless those systemic and structural barriers are addressed and policies are changed, we will continue to have a barriers.”

Today’s roundtable discussion is part of a series of such discussions that will place during March, which is Women’s History Month and beyond. You can see a recording of today’s roundtable discussion on DEED’s media resources page .