In Praise of MN's Economy!

[Astron1000]

One very strong reason for Minnesota's performance is the fact that the Twin Cities are the #5 center in America for Fortune 500 Companies - and a diversified list it is! This is pretty amazing given that the Twin Cities are America's 16th-largest metro area. It says volumes about the work ethic and educational level of the people here.

Yes, the Twin Cities are actually ahead of Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Miami, Seattle, Detroit, St. Louis, Denver, Cleveland, etc. in the number of F500 company headquarters (right now there are 19 F500 companies HQ'd here). It's also one of the strongest locations for Fortune 1000 companies as well.

Only New York, Chicago, San Francisco Bay area and Houston have more F500 companies.

Here is the Twin City Fortune 500 Headquarters list, in order of revenues:

Target
General Mills
Northwest Airlines
Best Buy
3M
Ameriprise
US Bancorp
Medtronic
Land O' Lakes
Mosaic
United Health Group
SuperValu
C.H. Robinson
Nash Finch
CHS
Travelers Co (St. Paul Travelers Insurance)
Ecolab
Xcel Energy
Thrivent Financial

[pepe1]

Originally Posted by icewater

Yeah, they come in from all corners of the midwest: ND, SD, IOWA, Wisconsin, NEB. Often in search of jobs or the bright lights big city that the TCs have. And yeah, the education is top shelf, with the first-time-out-of-the-nesters getting exposed to an excellent university AND an excellent city. The lower level schools are also much better than elsewhere. I'm glad that outsiders see MN as a beacon of opportunity, and I'm glad that the cold freezes out the wannabes

I'm not sure I'm interpreting your statement regarding education correctly here. Iowa and Wisconsin clearly have better public education systems than Minnesota. North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska may or may not, that's certainly debatable.

It stands to reason that with Minneapolis bieng the largest city in the region, that you see many transplants from the aforementioned states due to job opportunities.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by pepe1

I'm not sure I'm interpreting your statement regarding education correctly here. Iowa and Wisconsin clearly have better public education systems than Minnesota. North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska may or may not, that's certainly debatable.

It stands to reason that with Minneapolis bieng the largest city in the region, that you see many transplants from the aforementioned states due to job opportunities.

What information to you have to back this up? Minnesota generally tops the nation in most polls. Iowa and Wisconsin are usually top 3 though.

[What!]

I guess he doesn't have any examples, golfgal. Sorry.

[pepe1]

I'm sure you could find a poll or two that ranks Minnestoa tops in the nation in public education. I'm also certain you could find one that ranks South Carolina tops too. That's not to say that Minnesota and South Carolina are similar performing public education systems, I'm just making a point about the validity of random statistics and polls.

Fact is, Iowa and Wisonsin have been the gold standard in public K-12 education for decades. Both systems consistatnly top the nation in many metrics one would find important in K-12 education. Metrics like literacy rates, graduation rates, tests of basic skills, percentage of graduates who persue 4 year college degree, percentage of graduates who complete four year degrees, college entrance examinations, and so forth.

I guess the portion of the original post that is difficult to interpret is the comment about "lower level schools". the comment was placed in the context of state universities, I believe. Clearly, all three states flagship universites are excellent - and I don't think anyone could definitvely say which is better. But I get the impression the original poster may be commenting on schools like St Cloud State, Mankato State, and UMD? Perhaps I'll reserve my judgements on those particular schools, since I don't know for certain that was the original posters intent...

[golfgal]

Minneapolis reclaims spot as most literate city - USATODAY.com

MPR: Minnesota students top nation in ACT scores


HigherEdInfo.org: College-Going Rates of High School Graduates - Directly from HS


The Most (and Least) Educated States - MSN Encarta

I think you will find that MN tops Iowa and Wisconsin in most of the categories you suggest. Iowa and Wisconsin have good schools, but MN has LONG been at the top for most surveys, polls, what have you. They have been a leader and pioneer in education for decades.