Hundreds of Black business owners are among many groups who plan yearly advocacy days at the Minnesota Capitol to speak face-to-face with their representatives.

The vast majority of those planning to attend the third annual ‘Black Entrepreneurs Day’ on Feb. 3 live in DFL districts, according to the event organizer, meaning — less than two weeks from the scheduled event, it’s not clear if the House lawmakers who represent them will be there as the DFL boycott continued on Tuesday.

“We put them in office, so I do expect them to hear me out,” said Lutunji Abram of Lutunji’s Palate, a bakery on the outskirts of downtown Minneapolis.

“And so, it’s very important that we meet in person so they can hear directly from us our concerns.”

“One of the main things that we want to do is be seen, heard and understood,” added Shontel Booker, who owns Dream In Color Healing yoga studio.

“When you’re in a location as powerful as this event is, that just kind of lets people know just how serious we are and just the concerns that we have.”

“They close down their shops. They put a ‘We’re not going to be here because we’re going to Black Entrepreneurs Day’ on the door,” said event organizer Sheletta Brundidge, who also owns media and production company ShelettaMakesMeLaugh.

“And if they walk in there, and 67 of the legislators that they’re expecting to see are not there, girl, we’re gonna have a problem.”

Brundige has organized the first-of-its-kind event for three years.

“So it’s my job to have a solid Plan B because I don’t know if the DFL is going to get back to work before Feb. 3, but I do know I got four to 500 business owners coming in heavily democratic districts,” she said.

Rep. Katie Jones (DFL – Minneapolis) met with them at Lutunji’s Palate to hear their concerns.

“I want to first say, we want to be at the Capitol. We want to be there on Feb. 3 and hear from Black entrepreneurs,” she said.

Whether DFL House members will be there “remains to be seen with the unknowns that we have right now,” she said.

“They, again, can reach out to us, and we’re happy to meet in district, happy to meet online, whatever is convenient… I think there are lots of creative ways that we can make sure that we’re connecting with Black business owners,” Rep. Jones said.

“It’s nice to know that they’re trying to find that workaround so that they can support us in every way possible,” Booker said, adding that she’d prefer to meet with representatives in person as planned.

“Yeah, it’s way better to be there in person,” she said. “It’s that connection that builds that community that we need and that we want to express and feel.”

“It’s about relationship building,” Brundidge added. “These Black entrepreneurs walk into their legislators’ offices in power, they make a connection, they exchange business cards, and so then they have somebody to call.”

A few GOP House members would be willing to step in for those in-person conversations with business owners outside of their districts if necessary, Brundidge said, adding that it’s important that they’re also able to meet with the members who directly represent them.

In the meantime, Brundidge said she’s been individually calling up dozens of DFL House members to make sure there’s a workaround in case the House power struggle continues through the day of the event.

A DFL House spokesperson referred to previous comments from DFL House leader Melissa Hortman in response:

“We’re ready to go back right now. We want to go back right now if Republicans would commit to two things: honoring the will of the voters in Shakopee, and agreeing that we’re power sharing if we return to a tie.”