STATE FOCUS | MINNESOTA


The star of the north


Minnesota has many advantages it can leverage to boost its economic development, but it needs to create a more competitive business environment if it is to attract new investment. Jim Banks looks at the opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead, and how the crane and hoist industry could benefit.


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choing its motto ‘L’Étoile du Nord’ – the North Star – Minnesota is certainly something of a hidden gem when it comes


to industrial development, though the state is not without its own economic challenges. Lying in the Upper Midwest, it nestles among the Great Lakes,


40 Winter 2025 | ochmagazine.com


with Lake Superior and the state of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, North and South Dakota to the west and on its northern border the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. It is technically the most northerly state of the Upper 48, as its Northwest Angle – an isolated,


non-contiguous part of Lake of the Woods County that joins on to Manitoba – is the northernmost point of the contiguous US. Its location puts it near the geographic centre of North America, and from this derives a key advantage that makes it an attractive hub for business.


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