CNBC has published the results of its sixth annual report on The Best States For Business. For the first time, Minnesota has dropped out of the top ten, from seventh place in 2011 to eleventh this year. Although number eleven isn't bad, there are obviously some things that need attention.
To get from number seven to number eleven, Minnesota lost ground in the categories of cost of doing business, education, technology and innovation, business friendliness, and cost of living. I think the drops in these categories indicate the competitiveness among some states to improve business climate and to make changes that improve their overall desirability as a place for business. Minnesota has done a magnificent job of standing still while a good portion of the country passes them by.
Our legislature annually marks time starting in January, waiting for the opening of fishing season so they can leave. There has been nothing innovative come from the two (twice as many as we really need) legislative bodies since the early seventies or before. It appears that there is a contest for the title Party of Obstruction, and so far it is a tie.
Minnesota has more than the average number of S&P companies, and Fortune 500 companies. This is a good state to consider for a business relocation or startup, but it is not getting better. Other states continue to improve while we go fishing. We have stood aside like a lonely adolescent wallflower, waiting for someone to ask us to dance. That's not good politics, and it's certainly not good business.
Recently, Governor Dayton led a trade mission to China, and it appears that it was a success. He should probably augment his Chinese trade mission with a dozen mini-trade missions to Illinois, Ohio, and a few other states. At eleventh place, Minnesota would seem to be competitive with thirty-nine other states, and the businesses in those states should be solicited as possible new corporate citizens of Minnesota.
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