Townhall: DEED & VRS-SSB Strategic Overview – Focus on Services to Individuals with Disabilities

Dear DEED Partners,  

It has been a year of extraordinary challenge for communities, businesses, and people throughout the state. I want to thank you for your continued partnership and the work that you have done during the COVID-19 pandemic to support Minnesotans when they needed you the most.  

We have learned a lot during the pandemic, and like you, we have made necessary adjustments to our services and business processes. Certainly, it has not been perfect – but we have strived to keep our customers at the center of every decision along the way.  

We have a lot of work in front of us: a tightening labor market, expiring federal benefit programs, and an economy standing on the edge of recovery. I am as optimistic as ever about Minnesota’s next chapter and our ability to rise to the challenge of the post-pandemic economy together.  

It will be hard work. It will require us to reexamine service delivery strategies, and it will require us to work together. As we chart a course for economic recovery and the future of service delivery, I want to make sure we are taking our next steps together. I am committed to making sure our team works directly with State agency partners, program & community partners, and stakeholder communities in consultation for the road ahead.  

I would like to invite you to join the Department of Employment and Economic Development team for a DEED and VRS-SSB Strategic Overview – Focus on Services to Individuals with Disabilities Virtual Townhall on August 3, 2021 from 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. To join, please register following the link below. 

Sincerely, 

Blake Chaffee 
Deputy Commissioner, Department of Employment and Economic Development