Friday Five: Primary night sets the stage for Minnesota’s economic future

By Doug Loon
President and CEO
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

I’m coming to you this week following primary night, which from the Chamber’s perspective marks the beginning of the next phase of this year’s important 2026 election season. The candidates who emerge this fall will have an opportunity to shape policies that affect Minnesota’s ability to attract investment, grow businesses, build its workforce and compete with other states. That’s economic prosperity. That’s growing the economic pie. That is what makes Minnesota great, well into the future.

The business community should be paying attention now, not waiting until November. The next Legislature will face important questions around taxes, regulation, workforce, energy, health care and the overall cost of doing business in Minnesota. This election is especially important because Minnesota’s economic competitiveness will depend on the policy choices made over the next several years. Businesses need policymakers who understand how those decisions affect employers, employees and communities across the state.

As you may know, the Minnesota Chamber Foundation put together the Blueprint for growth report that provides a roadmap for that conversation, with a focus on three fundamental areas: driving investment and innovation, upskilling Minnesota’s workforce and attracting and retaining talent. And that includes a population for the future, because without a growing population, it’s hard to have a growing workforce. We need to make sure we’re attracting investments, so we’ve got to make sure our policies are in alignment.

Those are the kinds of long-term issues candidates should be looking at now to make the case to voters on how they will help create a sustainable, growing economy into the future. Now, Minnesota has the assets to be a leader, but we need to turn those assets into stronger results because the evidence shows that we’re not meeting our economic potential.

With that, we congratulate the candidates who advanced from Tuesday’s primary and look forward to working with them on policies that grow our economy, expand opportunity and help make Minnesota more competitive. You can read more about the economic blueprint from the Chamber Foundation here.  

And speaking of Minnesota businesses, today is the final day to nominate a product for the Coolest Thing Made in Minnesota contest. We’ve been talking about it every week on this podcast, and now the deadline is here to nominate a product. So, if your company makes something here in Minnesota, this is your last chance to put that product in the spotlight and show off the innovation that happens across our state.

The contest celebrates everything from everyday consumer products and food to medical technology, heavy equipment and advanced manufacturing. After nominations close, Minnesotans will have a chance to vote through a head-to-head bracket to determine the next winner of the Coolest Thing Made in Minnesota.

So, submit your nomination today by visiting coolestthingmn.com and help show the rest of the state what Minnesota makes!

Again, the November general election is now the next major milestone for our state, with Election Day set for November 3. Make sure to mark your calendar, because between now and then the Chamber will be continuing to engage in the election process and helping to make sure Minnesota’s business community has a voice in the policy conversations that will help shape our state’s economic future. And if you can’t, make sure to do it in advance with early voting.

Thank you for being with us again this week. We have a lot at stake in our state’s economic future, and we look forward to your participation next season of the election process. We look forward to catching up with you on next week’s episode of the Minnesota Business Podcast. Have a great weekend!