Better than I thought…
Posted on June 23rd, 2008 – 7:05 AMBy Thomas Lee
Minnesota ranked 11th in the country in leveraging its science and technology assets to promote economic development, according to an annual report by the Milken Institute, an independent think tank based in Santa Monica, Calif.
Although Minnesota fell three places from 2004, 11th place is still better than I expected. The state finished ahead of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and even New York. Not surprisingly, Massachusetts, with its concentration of elite universities and a thriving biotech industry, once again claimed top billing.
A closer look behind the ranking shows how frustrating Minnesota can be. The state boasts some fantastic intellectual capital but continues to underachieve in attracting academic research money and creating startups.
Our work force is highly educated and capable. Minnesota ranked 7th in average overall ACT scores, 5th in SAT Math scores, and 4th in SAT verbal scores. We also ranked 8th in bachelor degrees or higher ages 25 and up and science and engineering postdoctorates awarded per 100,000 people ages 25 to 34.
Thanks to powerhouses like 3M and Medtronic, Minnesota finished 6th in the country in patents issued per 100,000 people.
But translating those advantages into economic gain has been a struggle. The state ranked near the bottom (45th) in business startups per 100,000 people. We did poorly in net formation of high tech establishments per 10,000 businesses (49th) and so-so in number of number of high tech industries growing faster than the U.S. average (19th) and number of Inc. 500 companies per 10,000 businesses (18th).
Conclusion: Minnesota is not fully exploiting its best economic asset: its people.
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