Molly Jungbauer will head MN Chamber board for a year

Molly Jungbauer

Molly Jungbauer, chief executive and an owner of Hollstadt Consulting of Mendota Heights, will take over as chair of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for the 2019-20 term that begins at the annual meeting on Nov. 21.

The chamber's membership elected new officers and board members in August.

"The Minnesota Chamber is focused on pursuing policies that foster Minnesota businesses' ability to provide economic opportunity for all citizens statewide and to strengthen their ability to compete in national and global markets," Jungbauer said in a prepared statement. "This includes creating a more competitive tax and regulatory environment and defining an appropriate role for government at every level."

Other chamber officers include: Chair-elect Mike McMahan of Allina Health; Secretary-Treasurer Stephanie Laitala-Rupp of Commonwealth Properties of St. Paul and immediate past chair David Ahlers of Graco.

Jungbauer, a veteran public accountant who also served a stint as controller of the Minnesota Wild, joined her husband Jim Jungbauer, when they acquired Hollstadt from founder Rachel Hollstadt in 2012. Jim Jungbauer, who joined Hollstadt in 2006, was president at the time of the acquisition.

The volunteer board of the chamber represents 2,300-member businesses who employ 500,000-plus employees across Minnesota. The board sets a public policy agenda designed to improve Minnesota's business climate, and "for shaping the chamber's workforce efforts and one-on-one business assistance programs that help businesses succeed in a changing and growing economy.''

The chamber and its local affiliates have been active in the areas of workforce development, immigration reform, helping expand local businesses in Minnesota, and waste-reduction-and-recycling programs.