By JERRY SMITH jcsmith@northfieldnews.com

Posted on August 27, 2013

 Jerry Smith by Jerry Smith

After touring the MOM Brands facility in Northfield with Amy Klobuchar on Tuesday, Northfield Mayor Dana Graham said he was impressed with the U.S. senator’s passion and willingness to support Minnesota businesses.

Graham, along with city administrator Tim Madigan, were joined by Klobuchar, MOM Brands Chairman and CEO Chris Nugent, and MOM Brands senior vice president Dave McBeain on the tour of the facility.

Graham’s takeaway was that Klobuchar would continue her efforts to support Minnesota businesses like Malt-O-Meal, especially in the areas of tax reform, the changing workforce and legislation tied to the Farm Bill.

“I was very impressed with the questions she was asking,” Graham said. “She wants to bring this back to Washington and get things done. She showed a real interest in Northfield and the initiatives here to prepare our youth for the workforce.”

Some of the discussion during the tour centered around the aging workforce at the facility and how best to prepare new potential employees.

Klobuchar was on a three-city information gathering tour that included Northfield, Rochester and Eagan. For the U.S. Senator, the tour of the MOM Brands facility’s Frosted Mini Spooners line only reinforced what she already believed about the company.

“This is a great workforce,” Klobuchar said. “Great companies treat their workers well and it shows here.”

Klobuchar’s interest in MOM Brands stems from the company’s position not only on the national stage, but internationally as well. she believes the company is poised to grow.

“I m here to praise this company and manufacturing in a state that has kept the unemployment rate 2 percent lower than the national average,” she said.

Madigan also was impressed with Klobuchar’s commitment to the company and to Northfield. He said because MOM Brands operates not only on a national level, but also on an international level, the U.S. senator has taken notice.

“It’s helpful to have a U.S. senator take an interest in a local company here in Northfield,” Madigan said. “You get a positive vibration from the employees here that it’s a great place to work. I think that is important to the senator as she takes that message back to Washington.”