Legislative Breakfast

Bill Blazar is Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Business Development at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Blazar directs Grow Minnesota!, the Chambers statewide business retention and expansion program. This year, Grow Minnesota! completed retention visits with over 900 Minnesota businesses and provided direct assistance to 200 of them.

Blazar represents the Minnesota business community on several task forces and study groups, for example, the United State Chamber of Commerce's Labor Relations Policy Committee. He is a past member and chair of the board of the Minnesota Government Relations Council. 

Blazar has also served in a leadership capacity for Minnesota's P16 Education Partnership, the Minnesota Health Data Institute, the Citizens League and the Lake Calhoun Sailing School. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) and the Loppet Foundation. 

Prior to joining the Chamber, he was Manager of Government Affairs for Target Corporation from 1987-1992. Before working for Target, Blazar was a freelance public policy analyst, specializing in state and local fiscal policy, economic development and telecommunications.

Blazar has a B.A. (Political Science) from Northwestern University and a M.A. (Public Affairs) from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.