MNASCOE Update – Feb. 22, 2021

Hello MNASCOE Members –

I was recently on an national NASCOE call and wanted to reach out to you all to share some information. Our national NASCOE leaders are working together to handle issues that are being brought forward from across the nation – Workload, Hiring, Comp Time approvals, researching and retaining NASCOE benefits and also all of the Negotiation items that had been submitted in December. Additionally, the national officers are working to build new relationships with the new leadership that we have in WDC.

In Minnesota we have held two virtual retirement webinars. One exciting aspect of working for FSA and being a member of MNASCOE is that people come to the agency and stay for their entire careers. We’ve had a lot of members who’ve been able to position themselves to retire, which is great for them, but leaves opportunities for newer members to step up and help out.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a member for one month or 10 years.  We need volunteers to help out in some leadership roles.  You could help by being a District Representative, ensuring that the voices of members in your district are heard.  You could help by leading a committee, ensuring that the important work of the membership is carried out. Do you enjoy traveling and meeting new people?  Once travel opens up, we may need people to travel to WDC for different opportunities that pop up.  It’s really a great opportunity.  Contact me to learn more about the opportunities! We have positions that take a very minimal amount of time and others that require more commitment.

Since we were not able to meet in person last spring or fall for state convention and national convention, I am feeling disconnected from all of you and want to hear more from our membership as to your needs. We are gearing up for our annual negotiations with our state office and I would like to hear if you have questions, concerns or comments that you would like brought forward from MNASCOE during that session.

National Convention is being held in Fort Wayne, Indiana this year and I would encourage everyone to look at the website  (http://visitfortwayne.com/nascoe2021) for more information pertaining to the convention. I would love to see a large group from Minnesota this summer.

I feel like the last year has been a whirlwind.  On one hand it feels like we’ve been dealing with COVID forever and on the other hand, it feels like all time stopped last March.  I think that’s because we’ve all been so crazy busy and stressed trying to complete the mountains of work that we’ve been tasked with. But keep in mind, we are really, truly making a huge difference in the lives of the farmers we serve. We have been able to provide the assistance needed for our local communities’ farmers to continue to operate.  This also helps to keep our communities thriving even in a pandemic.

I leave you with the following:

  • What ideas do you have (or what things) you would like MNASCOE to work on?
  • How can you help make MNASCOE better?
  • What questions or concerns do you have currently that you would like MNASCOE to make management aware of as we prepare for our annual negotiations with the STO Leadership?

Thank you all for your continued members and support during these different times. I encourage you all to take time for yourselves to breathe, find things outside of work that you enjoy to take your mind away from the hustle and bustle, and please know that we are all in this together.

Kayla Mattson
MNASCOE President
mattson56567@gmail.com
218-371-8529

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