Regional business plan sought

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Ecolab Inc. CEO Douglas Baker briefed the House Jobs and Economic Development Finance Committee Feb. 22 on plans for a metro-area partnership to grow jobs in the state. No action was taken.

Coleman said businesses and local governments have joined forces in communities across the country to market themselves as attractive destinations for businesses. He said Minnesota is falling behind in this regional approach to economic development and needs its own regional organization to stay competitive.

“What we saw is that we lacked a coordinated approach that other communities had,” he said.

Baker, who runs the only Fortune 500 company still headquartered in St. Paul, said Minnesota’s greatest assets for attracting businesses are its high quality of life and highly educated workforce. Its high taxes and complex regulatory environment are among its biggest liabilities.

“You’ve got the ingredients for great entrepreneurial initiative, but in fact we’re not doing very well here,” he said.

Baker said the Twin Cities metropolitan area lacks a unified regional vision and governance structure for economic development. He hopes to change this with the launch of a new Minneapolis-St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership. The group is to set a strategy for helping business leaders and site selection consultants see the advantages of doing business in the Twin Cities.

The partnership, funded jointly by local governments and private companies, is currently in the final stages of hiring a CEO and has nearly secured $2.8 million in funding. No state funding will be required.

“You have to have this if you’re going to be successful in this day and age, and we don’t have it,” Baker said.