Friday Five: Building Minnesota's economic runway

By Doug Loon
President and CEO
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

Following a busy week and the elections, we're still doing some deep analysis to understand the outlook and how we can all work together to produce positive outcomes for Minnesota.

Next Tuesday, November 17, the Chamber hosts its 2026 Annual Meeting: Minnesota's economic runway, beginning at 9:45 a.m. in Bloomington.

Each year, the Annual Meeting brings members together to recognize our volunteer leaders who set the direction for the Chamber and the business community for the year ahead.

The program includes the release of this year's 2027 Business Benchmarks report. That's the Minnesota Chamber Foundation's report that we produce each year to measure Minnesota's economic performance and compare ourselves to other states because competitiveness is key to our future.

Last year's report showed a state with real assets, but one that often struggles to turn them into real results.

Minnesota ranked 38th in GDP per capita growth, 33rd in labor force growth and 41st in net domestic migration between 2019 and 2025.

This year's edition will give us updates on where Minnesota stands today and what it will take to build a runway to sustained growth. That conversation matters even more as a new group of policymakers takes office early next year.

This will be my last Annual Meeting as President and CEO of the Minnesota Chamber. As I've shared before, Doug Stang, longtime friend of the Chamber and business leader, will join the team on December 1. I will be around until the end of the year.

I can't think of a better opportunity than our Annual Meeting to close this chapter with a room full of members committed to Minnesota's economic future.

Registration is open at mnchamber.com under the events tab. Be sure to join us, register today and I look forward to seeing you there.

This week, the Chamber met with our partners from the Minnesota Chamber Federation. The Federation is our network of more than 50 local chambers of commerce that adopt and advocate for a shared legislative agenda.

We're focused on how we can work together with newly elected officials headed to St. Paul for the 2027 session because relationships built before session determine how well businesses are heard later during session.

We have a great, connected network of local chambers across the state. They connect with legislators and employers in their communities and districts, and the Minnesota Chamber brings statewide data and policy expertise.

Thank you to our local chamber friends who make up the Federation partnership for your leadership, continued partnership and support.

Legislators take notice when businesses across the state speak with one voice, and the Federation makes that possible in every corner of our great state.

Turning to my last point today, we're thrilled that Minnesota Vikings fans got welcome news this week. Kirk Cousins is returning to Minnesota after a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders.

As we know, Kirk spent six years with the Vikings, and his family made Minnesota home. We were so pleased that in 2024, he recorded a video for a session priorities event. In it, he talks about what makes Minnesota a great place to live and why supporting our state's economy matters.

His message still holds today, and we're sharing it again.
 

Welcome home, Kirk. We're pleased to have you with us. We look forward to a successful season going forward, as we've had already this year.

Thanks for being with us. We look forward to seeing you at next week's Annual Meeting and catching up with you on next week's Minnesota Business Podcast.