2030 ambitions set for three priority areas of the Greater MSP economy

2030 ambitions set for three priority areas of the Greater MSP economy Main Photo

11 Nov 2019


Ramsey County, Greater MSP

BOLD GOALS WILL POSITION THE REGION FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS IN AN INCREASINGLY GLOBAL ECONOMY

St. Paul, Minn.—(Nov. 11, 2019)—At its annual meeting yesterday, the GREATER MSP Partnership announced 10-year economic ambitions in three of nine priority areas for the Greater MSP region: job growth, talent retention and attraction, and startups and innovation.

“Almost 10 years ago, leaders in this community created GREATER MSP because we needed a way to come together as one region to tackle issues critical to our competitiveness,” said Tim Welsh, GREATER MSP board chair and vice chairman, consumer and business banking for U.S. Bank “I’m excited to say it has truly become a working partnership driving major change.”

In 2018, 1,000 partners crafted a bold vision for Greater MSP’s future: to lead the world in inclusive economic growth by welcoming all, empowering talent and igniting innovation. The initial three ambitions reflect the collective work of dozens of partners representing different parts of the economy aligning under this singular and aspirational long-term vision. They are as follows:

By 2030, the Greater MSP region will be

  • Top 5 in our peer set for job growth to ensure opportunity exists for all residents of our region. (Current rank: 9 of 12 in peer set*)
  • One of the country’s top 10 metros in retaining and attracting people. (Current rank: 16 of the country’s 30 largest metros)
  • The best place for people from every background to start and scale ventures that create wealth by solving global challenges. (Current ranks: 12 of 12 in peer set for starting new companies, 2 of 12 in peer set for sustaining companies past 5 years)

Speaking via video to meeting attendees, national thought leaders talked about the need for Greater MSP’s regional leaders to focus on trends such as rapid digitation, automation, artificial intelligence and increasing diversity. “Cross sector collaboration is absolutely essential in a world that is getting even more complex,” said Amy Liu, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program for The Brookings Institution. “And if people and their talents are at the center of global competitiveness, it takes a civic team—not individual organizations—to ensure that people succeed.”

Peter Frosch, GREATER MSP CEO underscored this approach. “GREATER MSP is a big team of hundreds of inspired—and inspiring—people. This cross-sector partnership is innovating, growing and is now capable of doing even more,” he said. “That’s good news, because there’s more work to do together. We need breakthrough progress in known challenges and we need to open our eyes to new challenges that are emerging quickly.” Regional ambitions in six remaining priorities will be announced in early 2020. They are: racial inclusion, skills and workforce, regional image, affordability, mobility, and environment and climate.

2019 IN REVIEW

During the annual meeting, 2019 partnership results and accomplishments were highlighted, including:

  • FIVE-YEAR REGIONAL INDICATOR TRENDS In June, GREATER MSP released economic trends based on five years of data in the Regional Indicators Dashboard. These critical insights served as the foundation of the region-wide ambitionsetting process.
  • REGIONAL AIR SERVICE PARTNERSHIP (RASP) After 30 of the metro area’s largest companies were confidentially surveyed about their future travel needs, GREATER MSP, Thomson Reuters and the Metropolitan Airports commission secured three new direct flights to global destinations: Mexico City, Seoul, and Dublin. Direct service to Shanghai is expected in 2020.
  • FORGE NORTH LAUNCH In July, more than 300 people gathered to celebrate the launch of Forge North, a coalition of entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, startup accelerators and community supporters joining forces to significantly increase the Greater MSP region’s startup activity. Forge North’s online compass connects startups with the correct resources based on their goals and stage.
  • TALENT INSIGHTS REPORTS AND WORKSHOPS The Make It. MSP. strategic initiative conducted quarterly research projects around several key issues employers are facing: Attracting tech talent, appealing to the needs of Gen Z, welcoming newcomers to help talent retention rates, and improving the workplace and community experience for newcomers of color (coming in December).
  • REPRESENTING THE REGION AROUND THE COUNTRY From exhibiting at one of the largest tech conferences in the world (Collision) and promoting the region at university career fairs to meeting with national media in New York City and targeting two million people with promotional ads, the GREATER MSP Partnership is working hard to continually raise awareness enhance perceptions of the region.

About GREATER MSP GREATER MSP is the economic development partnership for the 15-county Minneapolis Saint Paul region. More than 300 leading businesses, universities, cities, counties, philanthropies and others are working together to accelerate the competitiveness of the regional economy and drive inclusive economic growth through job creation, capital investment and the execution of strategic initiatives.

* Peer set: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Pittsburgh; Portland; San Francisco and Seattle

https://www.greatermsp.org/clientuploads/Press%20Releases/GREATER_MSP_2019_Annual_Meeting_Release.pdf