The Minnesota Business Vitality Council

Minnesota continually seeks to be a state at the cutting edge of economic development. Throughout our history, government and business have partnered to make our state a great place to start, build, and expand a business. Yet every year, the competition for economic growth grows more intense. With high mobility of talent, the clustering of industry ecosystems, and the enormous potential driven by new technologies, governments must work closely with industry to stay at the forefront of opportunity.

The Minnesota Business Vitality Council (MBVC) seeks to address the new economic opportunities in our global economy. Formed in 2020 by the Walz-Flanagan Administration, the MBVC is an interagency group in state government designed to tackle complex economic development issues, discover cross agency solutions, and capitalize on opportunities to grow Minnesota's economy.

Here's how the MBVC works:

• The MBVC is centered on work groups – where teams from relevant agencies come together for six month project sprints to focus on burgeoning business opportunities critical to our state's economic growth.
• The MBVC model is nimble, allowing agencies to be pulled in when a working topic warrants their participation and cycle back out when it does not.
• Output varies by topic, from legislative recommendations to research projects or pilot programs and beyond. It is intentionally flexible to allow work groups to determine the right work product based on the challenge the council is taking on.
• So far, the MBVC has taken on such issues as growing Minnesota's hemp industry, expanding continuing technical education (CTE) classes in high school, reskilling Minnesota's workforce, and helping communities navigate energy transitions.
• The work product of each sprint has a variety of audiences depending on its objective, including the Governor, industry leaders, and legislators. Completed sprint reports are made public, including:
  • Business Growth and Family Sustaining Job Opportunities in a Changing, More Sustainable Economy Working Group
  • Career and Technical Education in High Schools Working Group
  • Career and Technical Education One Pager
  • Child Care Business Supports Working Group
  • Child Care Business Supports One Pager
  • Community Energy Transition
  • Industrial Hemp Processing Working Group
  • Reskilling Minnesota Work Group

The genesis of the MBVC was the Minnesota Business First Stop, a nine agency team, which helps companies navigate state government to expedite permitting solutions for growth. The MBVC continues this critical work while expanding on the model to create the proactive, business-friendly workgroups on key topics as described above.

Leadership and Participation

The MBVC is led by the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development. The department staffs and runs the Council using existing resources.

Participating agencies include:

• The Department of Agriculture
• The Department of Corrections
• The Department of Education
• The Department of Natural Resources
• The Department of Veterans Affairs
• The Office of Higher Education
• The Department of Transportation
• The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
• The Department of Revenue
• The Department of Commerce
• The Department of Labor and Industry
• Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation

For More Information

The Minnesota Business First Stop Highlights and Accomplishments can be found on our website, and you can download a fact sheet. Call 1-855-893-2099 or e-mail firststop@state.mn.us.