►
From YouTube: Council Minute July 5
Description
In this week's Council Minute Mayor Tim Busse discusses Bloomington’s microchip ecosystem after a recent roundtable discussion hosted by Senator Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at Normandale Community College. He also highlights the recent statewide recognition Bloomington received for its sustainability efforts.
A
Hello
Bloomington
I'm
mayor
Tim
Bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
July,
2nd
I
hope
everyone
had
a
great
Fourth
of
July
celebration.
Thanks
to
everybody
who
joined
us
for
summerfet,
despite
the
Heat
and
the
threat
of
rain,
we
had
a
fantastic
time
once
again,
special
thanks
to
everyone
who
worked
so
very
hard
to
make
it
happen.
A
We
didn't
have
a
council
meeting
this
week,
but
there
are
a
couple
of
things
that
I
wanted
to
catch
you
up
on
last
week,
I
had
the
pleasure
of
being
part
of
a
Roundtable
discussion
at
Normandale,
Community
College
on
the
topic
of
the
microchip
industry
in
Minnesota
and,
more
specifically,
how
to
continue
to
grow
the
microchip
industry
right
here
in
Bloomington.
The
event
was
hosted
by
senator
Amy,
Klobuchar
and
U.S
Secretary
of
Commerce
Gina
raimondo,
and
it
included
Executives
from
the
microchip
industry
representatives
from
all
levels
of
Education,
the
trades
and
government.
Some
quick
background.
A
A
lot
of
people
don't
realize
that
there
is
a
robust
and
growing
microchip
ecosystem
right
here
in
Bloomington
and
when
I
say
microchips
I'm
talking
about
those
small
little
chips
that
are
vitally
important
in
everything,
from
your
cell
phone
to
medical
technology,
to
cars,
to
Advanced
military
equipment
and
space
technology.
The
entire
microchip
industry
was
basically
born
here
in
Minnesota
back
in
the
1960s,
thanks
to
a
lot
of
brilliant
thinkers
like
Seymour,
cray
and
William
Norris.
They
started
Control
Data
corporation,
which
was
a
Mainframe
and
supercomputer
company
that
was
located
right
here
in
Bloomington.
A
Many
of
those
parts
became
successful
businesses
in
their
own
right
and
a
good
number
are
still
here
in
Bloomington
companies
like
polar
semiconductor,
Seagate,
Ceridian
onto
innovation,
skywater
technology
and
others.
I
participated
in
the
round
table
last
week
in
my
mayor's
role,
but
I
also
have
a
connection
through
my
day,
job,
which
is
with
skywater
technology,
a
Chip's
Manufacturing
Company.
Here
in
Bloomington,
so
I
know
full
well.
The
success
of
the
microchip
industry
is
an
important
part
of
bloomington's
future.
A
So
what
brought
Senator
Klobuchar
and
secretary
raimondo
to
Normandale
to
talk
about
the
chips
industry
a
little
bit
more
background,
while
the
majority
of
microchips
are
designed
here
in
the
United
States
only
about
13
percent
are
actually
made
here
in
the
U.S.
That
percentage
used
to
be
a
lot
higher.
But
now
the
vast
majority
are
made
in
places
like
Taiwan,
China
and
South
Korea,
and
during
the
pandemic
we
saw
that
was
a
problem.
Supply
chain
issues
meant
that
U.S
companies
couldn't
get
the
chips
they
needed
to
make
their
products.
A
Last
August
Congress
passed
and
President
Biden
signed
the
chips
and
science
Act.
The
ACT
provides
roughly
280
billion
dollars
in
new
funding
to
boost
domestic
research
and
manufacturing
of
semiconductors.
Here
in
the
United
States
now
to
get
any
of
that,
Federal
funding
states
are
required
to
show
support
as
well.
So
this
past
legislative
session,
Governor
walls
signed
a
bill
that
created
the
Minnesota
forward
fund,
which
includes
250
million
dollars
to
help
Minnesota
microchip
companies
grow
and
expand.
A
Most
of
the
Bloomington
companies
that
I
mentioned
earlier
they're
busy
putting
together
applications
to
hopefully
receive
some
of
that
Federal
funding.
In
addition
to
looking
at
new
and
updated
equipment
or
expanding
their
buildings,
each
of
those
companies
understand
the
importance
of
having
a
trained
and
skilled
Workforce
to
fill
the
jobs
they'll
be
creating
because
of
the
shared
challenges.
Those
companies
are
working
together
closely
to
try
and
address
the
workforce
issues
as
well
as
other
issues
like
child
care
and
transportation.
A
A
We
have
a
ways
to
go
on
this,
but
this
is
a
very
exciting
opportunity
for
Bloomington
I'll,
be
sure
to
keep
you
updated
as
things
progress
earlier
this
month,
the
city
of
Bloomington
received
some
very
nice
Statewide
recognition
for
our
work
in
the
area
of
sustainability.
Bloomington
was
awarded
a
2023
sustainable
city
award
by
the
league
of
Minnesota
cities
for
our
bulky
item
Management
program.
As
you
probably
know,
the
bulky
item
Management
program
began
in
2022
to
give
residents
a
way
to
dispose
of
bulky
unwanted
items
in
a
more
sustainable
way.
A
So
the
council
adopted
the
new
bulky
item
Management
program
in
2022,
and
it
includes
in
every
other
year,
curbside
cleanup
with
more
careful
limits
on
the
items
accepted.
It
also
includes
a
monthly
pickup
of
reusable
and
recyclable
bulky
items
from
the
curb
on
annual
recycling
drop-off
event
and
swap
events
for
reusable
items
in
2022.
The
new
and
improved
program
resulted
in
584
fewer
tons
of
waste
going
to
landfills,
61
tons
of
material
was
recycled
or
reused,
and
the
first
swap
event
diverted
more
than
a
thousand
pounds
of
gardening
tools
for
reuse.
A
That
is
great
work,
so
it
was
very
nice
to
be
recognized
by
the
league
of
Minnesota
cities.
At
the
recent
annual
conference
in
Duluth,
the
sustainable
city
award
is
presented
annually
to
recognize
sustainability
efforts
among
cities
that
participate
in
the
Minnesota
Green
step
cities.
Program
Bloomington
is
part
of
the
green
step
cities
program,
which
is
a
free
voluntary
program
designed
to
help
cities
meet
environmental
sustainability
goals
through
the
implementation
of
29
best
practices.
A
Bloomington
has
reached
step
5
in
the
green
step
cities
program,
which
is
the
highest
level.
You
can
go
only
about
40
Minnesota
cities
have
reached
that
level,
hats
off
to
our
sustainability
commission
and
our
city
staff,
who
are
working
so
hard
to
make
Bloomington
a
more
environmentally
sustainable
City.