Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks on business practices at Young Professionals Network event in Bemidji

BEMIDJI — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison made a visit to Bemidji on Wednesday to share the importance of fair business practices with the area’s younger generation of business leaders and professionals.

In his presentation during the Young Professionals Network luncheon, Ellison explained to the group of around 40 attendees his thoughts on market concentration, government intrusion and other challenges businesses are currently facing.

“No business sector can be strong unless you have that group of young entrepreneurs and professionals coming up,” he said. “It’s a tribute to the leadership that they’re cultivating similar business people so that Bemidji can continue to have a vibrant employment sector in the future.”

Ellison also noted that his office can be a valuable resource for professionals and businesses.

“When you think of the Attorney General’s office, it may not be the first agency you think of when it’s about business development,” he said. “But I just want to let you all know that the Attorney General’s office is an important player in your arsenal when it comes to your business success.”

One way the office aims to help businesses thrive is by ensuring the enforcement of antitrust laws, which help prevent unfair business practices and promote competition.

“It’s a lot harder to stay in the industry because competition can be extremely tough, and it means we’ve got to take a look at antitrust legislation and enforcement in a way that we haven’t done in 30 or 40 years. This is the reality of the American economy,” Ellison said. “I’d say in over three or four decades, this change is beginning to take hold now.”

Ellison also explained how monopolies negatively affect businesses in any industry, citing an example of a business owner trying to sell their products online and attempting to compete with huge online retail sites like Amazon.

“When (business owners) compete with Amazon’s preferred products on price, they see their items get pushed further and further down the search results where no one can find it,” he said. “On top of that, Amazon is charging them costly fees on each item they sell, plus advertising fees that are virtually mandatory if they want anyone to see their items.”

In September 2023, the office

joined a bipartisan coalition

of state attorneys general to sue Amazon for violating antitrust laws. According to the lawsuit, Amazon uses a set of “interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies” to prevent any of its rivals from attracting customers.

“I don’t want to dissuade you from pursuing your vision for the next big tech thing. It’s fine if your tech company finds success, grows, gets big and makes a lot of money. We hope you do it and employ a lot of Minnesotans,” Ellison said. “The problem is if your company engages in practices that prevent other competitors from growing and keep new competitors from emerging.”

Ellison also cited government intrusion as a possible hindrance to the success of a business.

“Imagine that you’re helping shape the strategy of a large Minnesota company amid an uncertain economy, you’ve got a clear set of values that guide your business, and you’re feeling a political pressure in how to act on that,” he said, “whether it’s the products you choose to sell, the training you offer employees or even know you choose to invest your business’s money.”

As an example, Ellison referenced a

July 2023 letter

sent to Fortune 100 companies by attorneys general from 13 states. The letter issued a warning to the companies, threatening legal consequences over their choices to enact diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

“(Companies) don’t have to have (DEI programs), but if they want, it shouldn’t be intimidating to maintain,” he said. “Lawsuits against public and private concerns spearheaded by some of these special-interest law firms are popping up around the country to dismantle all manner of these sort of programs that help companies adapt to a diverse customer base, employee base, and just meet the needs of the market.”

Business decisions relating to hiring, promoting, investing and employee development, Ellison expressed, should be made by the business owner without political or government influence.

“These basic business practices should be entirely within your purview, but you hear more and more political voices getting in the way,” he said. “All these scenarios are very real and they’re all part of my work as attorney general … maintaining freedom for you to make choices that should be made by you.”