Grow Minnesota! 2021 Fall Quarterly
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Recognition of Grow Minnesota!®’s extensive statewide partnership
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The pandemic cannot stop Grow Minnesota! business visits and assistance
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Grow Minnesota! study focuses on digital technology use by small to medium-sized businesses
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What’s next? – New opportunities for Minnesota businesses via Grow Minnesota!
Recognition of Grow Minnesota!®’s extensive statewide partnership
Grow Minnesota! is stronger because of the collective work of its extensive partnership. Local chambers of commerce and economic development entities that focus on retaining and growing Minnesota businesses comprise the partnership.
Grow Minnesota! partner organizations receive access to a wealth of resources. Our partners are working year-round to strengthen and improve the business climate in their communities, while also contributing to:
- Continue to improve businesses’ knowledge of our resources and support for their growth in Minnesota.
- Solve businesses’ problems that impede their success in Minnesota.
- Connect businesses to resources and opportunities to grow revenue, jobs, and investment in the state.
Thank you Grow Minnesota! partners! For a complete list of partners click here. Do you see your chamber, city, or organization listed? Contact Grow Minnesota! staff to learn how you can become a partner and help support our valuable work.
Brad Meier, President/CEO, Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce
“Every conversation we have with businesses during a Grow Minnesota! visit is of high value. We learn about the business challenges and how we might be able to assist in finding a solution. Additionally, these visits inevitably create a great relationship with the business leaders and the Chamber.”
The Pandemic Cannot Stop Grow Minnesota! Business Visits and Assistance
The past eighteen months brought significant challenges to Minnesota businesses and Grow Minnesota! has been there to provide guidance and assistance throughout this difficult time. Our partners rose to the challenge by completing 475 one-on-one in-depth visits with businesses while also responding to thousands of COVID-19 pandemic direct assistance requests.
Last 18 Months:
475 Visits
Top 3 Sectors Visited:
Manufacturing, Professional Services, Retail and Accommodations
Has your business received a Grow Minnesota! confidential visit? Contact Grow Minnesota! staff to schedule your visit. Each visit provides value to the business visited.
Bruce Nustad, President, Minnesota Retailers Association
“Our organization is proud to partner and support Grow Minnesota!’s mission to retain and grow Minnesota businesses. We are able to gain valuable economic insights from the aggregated visit data collected during Grow Minnesota! business visits. This data includes information on trends that are surfacing in diverse industry sectors that may affect Minnesota retailers.”
Grow Minnesota! study focuses on digital technology use by small to medium-sized businesses
As research from the Minnesota Chamber Foundation's Minnesota 2030 report revealed, state economic performance is increasingly being shaped by changes in two fundamental areas: talent and technology. A long-term slowdown in population and labor force growth has created persistent hiring challenges and forced businesses to rely on productivity gains to scale and grow. Similarly, a growing body of research shows that digitalization (i.e. the use of digital technologies to improve business operations and create new products) is having an out-sized impact on overall business performance, particularly for small and medium-sized firms. This summer, Grow Minnesota! decided to investigate this issue further by surveying and interviewing small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the state to learn a.) how they are investing in digital technologies, b.) what barriers and opportunities they face to accelerate digitalization within their own firms, and c.) what resources and actions are needed to help Minnesota's SMBs compete in the digital economy.
A few of the study results are included in the full report.
- Nearly 60% of SMBs have reached or surpassed pre-pandemic revenue levels. However, 16% are still more than a year away from full recovery.
- A net 20% of businesses that view digital tools as a “core part of their business strategy” experienced employment gains last year, compared to only 6% for less digitally focused business. Digitally focused businesses were thus over 3x more likely to experience job gains last year.
- When asked about the single most important digital tool or skillset that businesses would like to better utilize in their business, SMBs described a desire to expand digital marketing efforts and extract more value from their digital tools through leveraging data analytics, process automation, and integration across tools and systems.
Grow Minnesota!® helps businesses make valuable connections
What’s next? – New opportunities for Minnesota businesses via Grow Minnesota!
Our Grow Minnesota! visits and research results have identified key areas that could play a role in boosting Minnesota’s economy and also help with business retention. We will be actively studying how Grow Minnesota! can help in the following areas. More to come soon.
- Provide regional economic insights,
- Support and encourage entrepreneurship, and
- Promote resources for business succession and transition planning.
Looking for ways to grow your business? We can help.
Contact Grow Minnesota! staff at growminnesota@mnchamber.com today to get answers to your questions and/or to schedule your Grow Minnesota! visit.
Interested in sponsoring the 2021 quarterly?
Contact the Chamber's Elizabeth Sherry to learn about exclusive sponsorship opportunities for the Grow Minnesota! 2021 quarterly and other Grow Minnesota! digital publications. Get your brand in front of businesses from around the state.
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