What We Produce

Lured by abundant natural resources and situated on a web of waterways, people have long cultivated econimic opportunities in this place we call Minnesota. Networks of rivers and early rail development meant fresh fish could be picked up from remote villages along Lake Superior by the SS Goldich, and rushed to market over tracks laid by Italian immigrants. Likewise, grain cultivated with a Minneapolis Moline built tractor, livestock raised by 4-H kids, and local honey could be marketed by a distinctly Minnesotan business model, the local co-op. Hard goods, such as the Honeywell Thermostatic regulator and Control Data computers, were joined in the national market place by soft goods, such as design ideas from Buffington and Howe. Charaecterized as an economic center of gravity by University Professor John Hart, Minnesota has long been a crossroads of possibility.