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Feature Article-Seeding the Prairie-Minnesota Technology Magazine Online, Summer 2002 Page 1 of 6 yy p e�E e. MAGAZINE INSIDE TECHNOLOGY AND MANUFACTURING EIUSINESe A.r U LIC riON OF MINNESOTA TECHNOLOGY,INC liArmitakhirko. SUMMER 2002 FEATURE Seeding the Prairie Building a high-tech economy requires investments in infrastructure, but that's not all. Minnesota cities are finding that they also need cooperation, education, and the right culture to help tech businesses grow and prosper. By: Mary Lahr Schier Contributing Writer, Minnesota Technology magazine Whenever Steve Boland talks about high-tech business development, he starts with the local barbershop. Sure, your barber will never give a virtual haircut. Customers still need to plop down in the chair, but that doesn't mean the barber couldn't use technology to make appointments, get the word out to customers about specials, or reach out to new markets. Boland, who owns Decipher IT, a St. Paul-based "technology translation" business, has been working with several Minnesota cities to help them learn what they need to do to attract high-tech businesses, and with individual companies to help them figure out how to leverage investments they've made in technology. • "The ability to expand the marketplace beyond those who are geographically next to you has changed the ballgame," says Boland. That and growth in the technology sector have inspired many communities to seek ways to encourage the growth of high-tech companies. Despite significant declines in military-related employment, high-tech employment increased 22 percent in Minnesota between 1990 and 2000, compared to 13 percent growth nationally, according to the state Department of Trade and Economic Development. In addition, workers in high-tech jobs-those involving computers, telecommunications, medical and other scientific devices, chemical processing, and military equipment-added between 14 and 140 percent more value per hour worked. So, what does it take to make a city a high-tech haven? Connectivity may be the answer-both the kind you get from wires and cables, and the kind cities develop by forging connections in their business community. But it also takes luck, the right environment, and a dose of specialized help for high-tech firms. Collaboration In January 2000, Best Buy Corp., one of Eden Prairie's largest employers, announced it was moving its headquarters down the road to Richfield. It was a shock to Eden Prairie, a community that prided itself on being a go-go town with prestigious residential developments, great schools, and a thriving business sector bounded by 1-494, County Rd. 18, and the Crosstown Highway. • The Best Buy move sparked a lot of talk in the city about economic development. About six months after the announcement, a group began forming to consider how to ensure Eden Prairie's future as a safe haven for high technology. It included several big names in Minnesota tech circles: William Cadogan, now retired CEO of ADC Telecommunications was http://www.minnesotatechnology.org/publications/magazine/2002/Summer/feature_seeding.a:... 8/16/02