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MSP

Clockwise, from top left: Maurices ; 3M

headquarters; Vikre Distillery; Mall of America.

Minnesota
Made

The state has an impressive roster of hometown

businesses with national reputations.

Julie Kendrick

Minnesota has a rich history of innovation,

and nowhere is this more evident than 3M.
Based in St. Paul, the company is best known
for brand icons such as Scotch brand adhesive
tape and Post-it notes, but a third of the companys $30 billion in annual sales comes from
products created within the past five years.

Jayshree Seth is a leading example of innovation in action. Shes a

3M corporate scientist who holds 55 U.S. patents and has many more
pending. What really sets us apart is our philosophy that science,
applied to life, can positively impact the world, she says. Youre
never more than 10 feet away from a 3M producteven at 30,000
feet. Were in everything from your smartphone to your car to your
doctors officeincluding software used in hospitalsand even

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Duluths Maker Economy

Farther north, Duluth is a bastion of innovation. For example, after starting a business to
build municipal skate parks, brothers Greg and
David Benson and partners were looking for
ways to reuse leftover scrap materials. They had
two ideas: Adirondack chairs (Loll Designs) and
kitchen cutting boards (Epicurean), made with
post-consumer plastic from recycled single-use
milk jugs and Forest Stewardship Councilcertified wood fiber composite. Greg Benson is
thrilled its all happening in Duluth: Its a small
town in the best sense of the term, because its a
friendly community with a sense of place.
The retail fashion industry swallows up
many entrepreneurs, but Maurices, a 1,000-store
womens fashion retailer that opened in 1931, is
a singularly successful survivor. After doubling
sales and store counts in the past 10 years, Maurices has built a brand-new $80 million, 450-person headquarters downtown. Duluth is a great
reflection of the communities we serve, says
George Goldfarb, president and CEO.
Duluth innovators are brewing up lots of
good drinks, such as those at Bent Paddle
Brewing Company. The water from Lake Superior tastes amazing, and its ridiculously good
for brewing beer, says Laura Salyards-Fryberger Mullen, the brewerys co-founder and
vice president of outreach and events. Young
entrepreneurs are flocking to Duluth for the
lifestyle, gorgeous views and recreational options. The areas other notable potable makers
(potent and otherwise) include Alakef Coffee
Roasters and Vikre Distillery.
If youre a wilderness enthusiast, a supporter of American-made brands or a ruggedleaning fashionista, you already know about
Duluth Pack. Headquartered in Duluth for
more than a century, the company creates
products that have a lifetime guarantee on

Pa u l C r o s b y (M a u r i c e s ) ; KAREN BLEIER / 2 0 1 1 AFP / g e tt y i m ag e s ( 3 M ) ; V i k r e D i s t i l l e r y a n d a s s o c i at e d e n t i t i e s ( V i k r e )

inside commercial aircraft.

Then theres Retail Construction Services,
whose work takes place all over North America.
Weve built more than 11,000 brand-new stores,
and weve done brand refreshes for another
23,000, says Steve Bachman, founder, president
and CEO. Weve built more than 50 stores in the
Bloomington, Minnesota-based Mall of America. If youre in the mood for golf after all that
shopping, RCS has been the developer/owner/
builder of 16 golf courses, nine of which are part
of the TPC network of the PGA tour. RCS is also
renovating the clubhouse at The Royal Golf Club
in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, opening in spring/
early summer 2017.

Minnesota Innovations

My Minnesota

Alyza
Bohbot

By Julie Kendrick Posters by Replace / MN Invents

1921

LOCAL ROOTS: I was born

and raised in Duluth,
Minnesota, and after
moving to the East Coast
for 10 years, I could
not be happier or more
proud to be the owner
of a Minnesota-based
company.

1922

Wheaties

Water Skis

One of the first ready-to-eat cereals on

the market, made by General Mills, used
to be called Washburns Gold Medal Whole
Wheat Flakes. Seeking a snappier name,
the company held an employee contest to
rename it. Jane Bausman, wife of the export
manager, coined the winning name, and
Wheaties soon became a morning staple.

Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minnesota, was the

place where 19-year-old Ralph Samuelson
first tried out the skis hed shaped from
lumber and leather strips, using a long
window sash as a ski rope. He made his
first water ski jump three summers later,
using a greased 4-by-16 ramp.

1951

1930

Stored-Memory
Computer

MUST-SEE: If you are

lucky enough to be in
Minnesota during the
right time, the northern
lights is a definite
must-see.

Scotch Tape
When engineering school dropout and
research assistant Richard G. Drew got a
job at Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. (now 3M), the company was in the
sandpaper business. After inventing masking tape in 1925, he followed up by leading
a team that developed the now-ubiquitous
transparent sealing tape in 1930.

A group of WWII Navy code-breakers

started a St. Paul company called Engineering Research Associates in the hangars of a
former aircraft factory. They built the ERA
1101, later renamed UNIVAC 1101, one of the
first commercially produced computers.

TRAVEL ADVICE: If you

have never been to Duluth
or up to the North Shore,
it is absolutely worth
the trip. Stop and see
the Aerial Lift Bridge in
Duluth, grab a quick hike
at Gooseberry Falls and
wander around the adorable lakeside downtown
in Grand Marais. If you
have a little more time,
definitely make the extra
trek up the Gunflint Trail.
MUST-DO: Minnesota
has a great craft beer
community. So whether
you are in Minneapolis or
visiting the Duluth shore,
make sure to check out
a few of our local craft
breweries!

1956

1957

Personal-use
Snowmobile

Wearable
Pacemaker

David Johnson, while working for what

was then a regional farm equipment maker
called Polaris, handbuilt the first snowmobile, using 2-by-2 boards for the slide rails.

Like many a great modern company,

Medtronic was started in a garagewhen
electrical engineer Earl Bakken developed
a battery-powered heart pacemaker that
could be worn easily and comfortably.

1987

1978

Sleep Number Bed

Crisp-Crust
Frozen Pizza

Founded in 1987 by Bob Walker, Select

Comfort was at the forefront of the highend mattress trend with the introduction
of the Sleep Number bed, an adjustable
air mattress that gave buyers one more
number to remember: a measure of their
ideal comfort, firmness and support that
was their Sleep Number setting.

Long before Northeast Minneapolis

became a hipster mecca, Rose and Jim
Totino operated a family pizza restaurant
in their Nordeast neighborhood. After
selling to Pillsbury in 1975, Rose worked
with Pillsbury food scientists to develop
a frozen pizza crust that would stay crispy.

craftsmanship and hardware. As the oldest

canvas and leather pack and bag maker in the
United States, Duluth Pack has seen a renewed
interest in its products. Theres history in ev-

94 d e l t a s k y / s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6

ery bag, says President Tom Sega. You can buy

products online or at stores worldwide, but its
especially fun to visit the one-and-only Duluth
Pack retail store, right on Canal Park Drive.

R o l f H ag b e r g P h oto g r a p h y ( B o h b ot )

Owner, Alakef
Coffee Roasters
and City Girl
Coffee