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Medical, Agricultural
Industries Thrive in Minnesota

Investment bank Goldman Sachs calls Minnesota's economy one of the most diverse in the nation. More than 90 percent of the primary U.S. industries are represented in Minnesota, including major concentrations of companies engaged in manufacturing medical products, producing scientific and technical instruments, advertising, legal and accounting services, health care, forest products, computers, printing, publishing and food processing.

Minnesota is home to 13 Fortune 500 companies, including General Mills, Dayton Hudson, 3M, Northwest Airlines, Honeywell and Medtronic, as well as 15 Forbes 500 Largest Private Companies, including Cargill and Carlson Companies.

Minnesota is home to 1,800 technology manufacturing companies in 23 technological disciplines.

Minnesota's "Medical Alley" is an internationally recognized location for medical diagnostics and device manufacturers. The state ranks second in the U.S. in its concentration of medical instrument and supply manufacturing, with three times the U.S. average. Minnesota's health care industry employs 228,000 people, or 10 percent of all Minnesota workers.

Minnesota is home to more than 40 biopharmaceutical, diagnostic, drug delivery and tissue engineering companies in Minnesota, and some of the world's major agriculture companies including American Crystal Sugar, Cargill, Mycogen Seeds and Novartis Seeds.

Minnesota also ranks sixth in the nation in cash receipts from field crops and seventh in livestock. Primera Foods Corp., a value-added agricultural company based in Cameron, Wisc., recently announced that it is opening a food-ingredient processing facility in Altura, Minn. The company is investing approximately $10 million in facilities and equipment to open the 105,000-sq.-ft. (97,500-sq.-m.) facility. The location will provide the company with increased production capacity and will also serve as a site for the introduction of new technologies and processes.

To help Primera Foods leverage available resources, Advantage Minnesota arranged for the company to meet with utility provider Utilicorp United and the Minnesota Dept. of Trade and Economic Development (DTED), which is offering financing options for the company expansion. DTED developed a financing package for the Altura plant acquisition that included a Small Business Finance loan and a Minnesota Investment Fund grant.

"Primera's expansion in Altura is good news for the region and the state," says DTED Commissioner Jerry Carlson. "It will help strengthen Minnesota's position as a world competitor by opening up new markets for Minnesota agricultural products and creating high-quality jobs in rural Minnesota."

According to the annual Morgan Quintno study, Minnesota has ranked first nationally as the most livable state for three consecutive years -- 1997, 1998 and 1999.