The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has picked a union leader to join its board of directors.
Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, was appointed as a new Class C member and will serve a three-year term. He will replace Pentair CEO Randy Hogan, who is retiring from the board.
On Jan. 1, Melander will join MayKao Y. Hang, the chairwoman of the board and CEO of the Wilder Foundation, and Ken Powell, the deputy chairman and CEO of General Mills.
Melander has 25 years of experience representing unions in the construction industry and currently serves as the first vice chair of the Metropolitan Council. His civic participation spans nearly 30 years and multiple organizations in the Fed's Ninth District, including the St. Paul District Energy Board and Twin City Housing Development Corporation.
The Class C group of directors is appointed by the Federal Reserve Bank system's Board of Governors in Washington.
The class A and B directors are elected by member banks. Class B and C directors oversee hiring of Federal Reserve Bank presidents.
Melander will be among a small handful of union leaders serving as a Class C director for a Federal Reserve bank across the country.
Sara Horowitz, executive director of the Freelancers Union in Brooklyn, is rotating off the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the end of the month. Austin Keyser, a regional director for the AFL-CIO, serves on the board of the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is responsible for the Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Adam Belz • 612-673-4405 Twitter: @adambelz
