Opening Day!

We’re preparing to launch the next round of the State of Manufacturing® survey, and our first event is a June luncheon to recognize our Platinum sponsors. These businesses and organizations fuel the survey and its surrounding events with their financial support and business connections. They are critical to our effort to use the survey to establish and strengthen ties within the manufacturing community to help companies grow.

Calling it SOM “season” is not a stretch. Survey-related events can span nearly as much time on the calendar as a Twins season, including the playoffs (in light of our recent surge!). The process of conducting the survey and sharing its results across Minnesota involves ongoing engagement of the manufacturing community, from developing meaningful questions, to conducting the survey and regional focus groups, to traveling the state to share results.

Bringing key players together through these events drives our unique position as the tissue that connects all the players in Minnesota’s manufacturing ecosystem. Over the years, we have developed a coalition of stakeholders that all work to make small manufacturers more visible and help create opportunities for them to grow. And all that begins with the deep intellectual and financial support of our Platinum sponsors.

Bob Kill, our president and CEO, has always known that enduring relationships with Platinum sponsors are key to the SOM’s long-term relevance. “Bringing in one of the nation’s top pollsters year after year is an expense we couldn’t afford without their financial investment,” he says. Their influence goes beyond money, he adds. Each sponsor represents an exclusive market segment in the coalition of manufacturers. “They circulate our results to their networks each year, which increases our breadth and credibility.”

Following the kickoff, our award-winning pollster will begin the survey in late summer, with regional focus groups planned for early fall. The annual data release kickoff will take place in November, with events around the state to follow.

This year’s regional data release events will each include a mini manufacturing workshop focused on a topic developed with input from the Initiative Foundation presidents in each area. In Owatonna, for example, we’ll focus on talent and leadership development. In Redwood Falls the topic will be continuous improvement and automation. We’re excited to offer participants an inside look at the survey data and insight on specific ways to improve operations.

After nearly two decades of conducting the SOM survey, support from our partners is stronger than ever, and we couldn’t be more thankful for them. Over the years, we have learned to leverage each other’s strengths to support manufacturers across the state. We’re excited for another season together.

Learn more about the State of Manufacturing® survey.

Industry News

Federal funding freeze for Enterprise Minnesota could upend small manufacturers in southwest Minnesota
May 16, Worthington Daily Globe

Winsted, MN-based Millerbernd Manufacturing acquires C4 Welding in Sauk Rapids
May 16, The Fabricator

Apple Valley Foods to Close Chaska Facility, Nearly 100 Employees to be Laid Off
May 15, Twin Cities Business Magazine

With trade war pause, Minnesota firms rush to place orders from China, wary of what’s next
May 12, Minnesota Star Tribune

How manufacturers can plan for new workplace requirements that begin in 2026
Feb. 28, Enterprise Minnesota Magazine