116J.693 Advantage Minnesota, Inc. 

    Subdivision 1.    Establishment; purpose.  Advantage 
 Minnesota, Inc. is established as a nonprofit public corporation 
 under chapter 317A and is subject to the provisions of that 
 chapter.  The corporation is not a state agency.  The purpose of 
 the corporation is to market the economic development potential 
 of the state in order to enhance the state's economic growth.  
 Advantage Minnesota, Inc. objectives are to encourage businesses 
 to remain in the state and promote in-state expansion of current 
 and new Minnesota employers and businesses.  

    Subd. 2.    Board of directors.  (a) Advantage 
 Minnesota, Inc. shall be governed by a board of directors 
 consisting of voting and nonvoting members.  

    (b) The voting members of the board shall be:  

    (1) representatives of business, professional, and industry 
 organizations that have been certified by the commissioner as 
 having made a financial contribution to Advantage Minnesota, 
 Inc. for their period of service in accordance with matching 
 funds requirements established by the commissioner; 

    (2) representatives of labor organizations and educational 
 institutions, if any, as designated from time to time by the 
 board; 

    (3) the governor or a designee of the governor; 

    (4) the commissioner; and 

    (5) other persons, if any, as designated from time to time 
 by the board.  

    (c) The nonvoting members of the board shall be the 
 majority and minority leaders of the senate, the speaker of the 
 house of representatives and the minority leader of the house of 
 representatives, or their designees.  

    (d) Meetings of the board are subject to chapter 13D. 

    Subd. 3.    Executive committee; employees.  (a) The 
 board of directors shall create an executive committee of 12 
 members of the board including the commissioner, the vice-chair 
 of the board of directors, and two members of the legislature.  
 The president of the corporation shall be appointed by the 
 executive committee and ratified by the board.  The executive 
 committee shall oversee the daily operations of the corporation. 

    (b) Meetings of the executive committee are subject to 
 chapter 13D except when security, trade secret, potential client 
 lists, pending proposals, negotiations, employee matters, or 
 labor relations information are discussed.  

    (c) The employees of the corporation are not state 
 employees. 

    Subd. 4.    Bylaws.  Bylaws of Advantage Minnesota, Inc. 
 shall provide for the qualification and removal of directors, 
 and for filling vacancies on the board in a manner not 
 inconsistent with this section. 

    Subd. 5.    Other committees.  The executive committee 
 may, by resolution, create one or more committees, each 
 consisting of directors designated by the executive committee.  
 The duties, responsibilities, and limitations of each committee 
 shall be outlined in the resolution creating such committees. 

    Subd. 6.    Articles of incorporation.  The articles of 
 incorporation of Advantage Minnesota, Inc. must be filed with 
 the secretary of state under chapter 317A and must be consistent 
 with this section.  

    Subd. 7.    Audit.  Advantage Minnesota, Inc. shall 
 contract with a certified public accounting firm to perform a 
 financial and compliance audit of the corporation in accordance 
 with generally accepted accounting standards. 

    Subd. 8.    Report.  The commissioner shall submit an 
 annual report on the activities of Advantage Minnesota, Inc. by 
 January 15 of each year to the appropriations, finance, and 
 economic development committees of the legislature and to the 
 governor.  The report must include a description of the 
 corporation's activities for the past year, a list of all 
 contracts entered into by the corporation, and a financial 
 report of revenues and expenditures of the corporation. 

    HIST: 1991 c 252 s 1; 1992 c 464 art 1 s 17; 1995 c 232 s 2-5