Ingenuity Frontier - Manufacturing and Engineering At Work in Northwest Minnesota

IMPACT 20/20 is a group of senior executives and elected officials who came together in the fall of 2008 to explore the possibility of developing a collective action plan for the economy of Northwest Minnesota.

Participants included seven of the region’s top business people, three heads of higher education, two tribal chairs, two officers of utility cooperatives, two presidents of healthcare institutions, two directors of economic development commissions, two directors of workforce development organizations, one school superintendent, one director of a K-12 service cooperative, one president of a foundation, and one state commissioner.

A purpose statement, core values, and three initiatives have been identified that require collective action to successfully lay the foundation for future economic prosperity in Northwest Minnesota.

The three initiatives include supporting the installation of high-speed internet access throughout the region, increasing high school and college graduation rates, and enhancing the leadership skills of the region’s first-line and mid-level managers. Each initiative was adopted in response to the findings of a Regional Competitiveness Assessment that contained the results of extensive face-to-face interviews conducted with all 24 IMPACT 20/20 members by an independent consultant, as well as corroborating statistical data. Task forces have been formed for each initiative, consisting of IMPACT 20/20 Core Team members, support staff, and outside advisors. These task forces have formulated work plans which are now beginning to be implemented.

Among the businesses and organizations that have stepped up to the plate to invest time and resources in the initiatives are Paul Bunyan Telephone Cooperative, Alerus Financial, Border State Bank, Sjoberg Cable, the White Earth Reservation Tribal Council, the University of Minnesota Crookston, Bemidji State University, Northland Community and Technical College, Northwest Service Cooperative, Pine-to-Prairie Cooperative, Red Lake Public Schools, the Northwest Private Industry Council, Rural Minnesota CEP, the Department of Employment and Economic Development, the Northwest and Headwaters Regional Development Commissions, and the Northwest Minnesota Foundation.