Last month, the Star Tribune reported on efforts by the State of North Dakota (targeted toward Minnesota) to attract workers for some 25,000 unfilled jobs in their booming state (April 13th, “N.D. hopes to lure workers with promises of the 'Good Life'”).
The reaction on this side of the Red
River must involve more than merely shipping our workers west. Our state’s political and business elites
should seize this opportunity to do something more. Minnesota is perfectly positioned—both
geographically and economically—to play
a larger role in shaping our region’s economy and the time is now
Minnesota’s present mix of highly
progressive tax and crippling regulatory policies are not compatible with
becoming the region’s economic hub. To
gain a leadership position, we will need to rethink a range of policies—from
taxes, to economic development, to our relationship with neighboring states,
and beyond. The formula for success
involves a lot of hands-on work getting
the nuts and bolts of government right, and makes for horribly boring press
conferences, but here’s a start:
Build on What We Have
Minnesota, and more specifically the
Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, serves as the regional hub for a vast inland
empire stretching from western Wisconsin and northern Iowa to eastern Montana
and Manitoba, Canada. [To get a visual
feel for the size of the region, study the map of the Minnesota Twins radio
network.]
For example, Minnesota has 7 times the
population of North Dakota. All those
oil field developers and related industries have a need for a wide array of
business services—banking, accounting, consulting, engineering, insurance,
legal, public relations—not necessarily available in Bismarck and Fargo. Why not cater to this market and steal a
march on Denver and Seattle?
Likewise, the major-league sports,
shopping, and entertainment venues offered in Minneapolis-St. Paul; the
world-class health services available in Rochester; and the Ports of Duluth and
St. Paul and the MSP airport with their worldwide trade access, should make
Minnesota the linchpin of the entire region.
Embrace the Energy Revolution
Just like Houston in Texas or Calgary in
Alberta, Minnesota could serve as the hub of a North Central energy
empire: oil, natural gas, and coal in
the west, hydropower to the north, pipelines, refineries, and, yes, wind power
at home.
North Dakota is not the only state in
the Midwest with abundant natural resources; it is simply the state most
willing to develop them.
Minnesota, too, has resources—iron ore,
copper and nickel, and sand—all available for development, in an
environmentally-sound manner, of course.
Again, the skilled, blue collar (and likely union) mining jobs up north
and down south will create demand for
“knowledge-worker” services offered in the Twin Cities and regional
centers, including Duluth and Rochester.
Create a Silicon Prairie
California’s Silicon Valley benefits
from its close proximity to world-class universities. Rather than perpetuate rivalries with
neighboring universities in North Dakota and Iowa, why not join forces and seed
a Silicon Prairie in the Upper Midwest?
It would merely require abandoning the partisan view of Minnesota as a
progressive island in a sea of conservatism and, instead, seeing Minnesota as
the vital core of a larger, regional economy.
Be the Convener
We must stop thinking of bordering
states as competitors and start considering them as our collaborators. We should start hosting regular business
summits with our regional partners and build upon the strengths each one of
them brings to the marketplace.
In considering the North Dakota job
openings, we need to think creatively about how to supply their needs for goods
and services with the well-educated and skilled workforce available here. In doing so, we can begin to build the kind of regional economic
framework that will ensure the Upper Midwest will no longer be considered
"flyover land".
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