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Minnesota:
The Hidden High-Tech Haven

Check out the Web site for the Land of Lakes, and one immediately sees the visage of "The Body," the moniker once used by former pro wrestler and now governor, Jesse Ventura.

Gov. Ventura is leading Minnesota's economic-development efforts, and the state boasts of being a "world competitor" in attracting business. Minnesota is pursuing many of the same types of programs to attract new industry and retain others as many of its neighboring states.

As with competitors, Minnesota is devoting considerable attention to creating high-tech jobs, and the growth of that sector is pronounced "significant" by Diane Knutson, who tracks the computer industry for The Minnesota Dept. of Trade and Economic Development.

Ask her about growth in computer and high-tech jobs and she reels off a list of companies that are growing in the state and contributing to its economic prosperity. Indeed, though Minnesota is not popularly known as a haven for high-tech jobs, it has every reason to make that claim.

"Minnesota has had a significant high-tech presence for 50 years or more," Knutson says. "One of the first commercial computers ever made was built in Minnesota in 1949 by a company called ERA (which went on to become Control Data). Minnesota's high-tech companies are a well-kept secret. They've been here. They're growing here. It's just not well known because the products are not direct-retail products. They're software products that are more business-to-business products. So you don't hear of them."

Among the state's significant high-tech companies is Seagate Technology, the world's largest manufacturer of computer disk drives. Though corporate headquarters are in California, Seagate employs more than 4,000 in Minnesota. Another such company is ADC Telecommunications, which manufactures a wide range of telecommunications products. ADC employs more than 2,300 people at six locations in Minnesota.