Kendall J. Powell

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis announced that the Board of Governors has designated Kendall J. Powell and Harry D. Melander as board chair and deputy chair, respectively, effective Jan. 1, 2019.

Kendall J. Powell, former chairman of General Mills Inc. in Minneapolis, was designated chair of the board of directors for 2019. Powell has been a board member since 2013 and also served as chair in 2018.

Harry D. Melander

Harry D. Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council in St. Paul, was designated deputy chair of the board of directors for 2019. Melander joined the board in 2016 as a Class C director and also served as deputy chair in 2018.

Background about the Minneapolis Fed board of directors

Minneapolis Fed directors are selected to represent a cross section of the Ninth District economy, including consumers, industry, agriculture, the service sector, labor, and commercial banks of various sizes. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis board has nine members, with three Class A directors representing the member banks; Class B and C directors are selected to represent the public with “due but not exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers,” according to the Federal Reserve Act. The Class A and B directors are elected by member banks, and the Class C directors are appointed by the Board of Governors, which also designates the board's chair and deputy chair from among its three appointees.

The responsibilities of directors are broad, ranging from overseeing the general operations of the Minneapolis Fed to reporting on district economic conditions. This information helps prepare the Minneapolis Fed president for participation in Federal Open Market Committee meetings, where decisions are made about monetary policy.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank. 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. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous banking organizations, and provides a variety of payments services to financial institutions and the U.S. government.