Local Look blogs: #InnovateMN

Each month, DEED's Regional Analysis & Outreach unit produces a series of blogs exploring local labor market information. Please contact your regional analyst for more information. 

Minnesota is a place where good ideas are born and grow. We have a unique ecosystem that nurtures startups – helping them find the expertise and talent they need to launch – and that also supports more established companies looking to branch out in new directions.

Emerging discoveries and technologies enhance Minnesota’s economic future. #InnovateMN tells their inspirational stories. It also provides a roadmap for the financial, technical and educational resources and assistance available to Minnesotans who are looking to start or expand their business.

Central Minnesota: Innovation every day. That's how Microbiologics CEO Brad Goskowicz views his company and the people he leads. "If you're not reinventing better products, service, processes and more offerings, then someone else will," Goskowicz said as we walked through the most sophisticated and unique manufacturing facility I have ever seen.

Twin Cities Metro: From the development of new software and high-performance testing systems, to the creation of dietary supplements and organs, Eden Prairie-based companies like Agropur USA, MTS Systems Corp., and Miromatrix Inc. are pushing innovation in countless areas. And this is happening throughout the metro region. With a healthy supply of highly-educated workers, Twin Cities' companies are primed to innovate well into the future.

Northeast Minnesota: Innovation is needed to help reverse recent and long-term trends in regional industries that rely heavily on natural resources – such as mining, wood product manufacturing, and paper manufacturing. UMD's Natural Resources Research Institute has set its sights on providing solutions through research and economic development. 

Northwest Minnesota: Continuing our recent analysis of industry clusters, this month's post looks closer at 'emerging' industries in the region. Innovation may not be the only reason these industries are blossoming in Northwest Minnesota, but it certainly plays an important role.  A variety of employers, including those in manufacturing, transportation, and corporate management are using innovative techniques and technology to increase capacity and add employment. 

Southeast Minnesota: Southeast Minnesota's innovative Mobile Science Lab Program recently received the Local Government Innovation Award (LGIA) as a Top Innovator for its traveling science lab. Instead of busing hundreds of students to post-secondary educational institutions for higher learning, this program brings "state-of-the-art scientific equipment" in a trailer to high schools to give students opportunities to explore careers in science and offers real-life experiences by allowing them to participate in science experiments in the class.

Southwest Minnesota: To help make the most of an increasingly tight labor market, educational institutions in Southwest Minnesota are getting creative. For example, the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative (SWWC) was recently awarded a $3 million grant to help implement new projects in areas like information technology, manufacturing and engineering, mechanics, carpentry, entrepreneurship and medical careers.