Minneapolis-Saint Paul
A region where people have learned to build together
Some places respond to difficult challenges by competing for advantage. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul region has developed a different instinct: bringing people and institutions together to tackle problems that are difficult to solve alone. That habit of collaboration has deep roots in Minnesota, from its business and civic institutions to its history of invention and international engagement.
GREATER MSP brings this culture of collaboration together as a cross-sector coalition of leaders and organisations, working across business, government, education, philanthropy and the wider civic community.
Today, the coalition is taking on an increasingly ambitious question: how can the region build the next economy without losing what makes the place distinctive?
A Habit of Working Together
There is a particular way of responding to difficult problems in Minnesota: people show up, look beyond the boundaries of their own organisation and try to work out what can be done together.
The GREATER MSP Partnership describes this instinct as “neighborism”. It is more than a slogan. The idea is rooted in a broader culture of civic participation, institution-building and collaboration that has shaped the region over time.
That culture matters because many of the challenges facing a modern economy cannot be addressed by a single company, government agency or university. They require relationships that already exist, and the willingness to bring them together around something larger than any one organisation.
The GREATER MSP Partnership is built around precisely that premise. It brings together businesses, universities, public institutions, foundations and other organisations across the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region, creating a platform for working on issues that have a long-term impact on the region’s economic future.
What Collaboration Makes Possible
The value of that model becomes clearer when it moves from principle to practice.
One example is Minnesota’s work to establish a sustainable aviation fuel industry. The effort has brought together companies, government, universities and environmental organisations around a shared opportunity, with the aim of building the infrastructure and relationships needed for an industry that did not yet exist at scale.
The same approach is visible in other emerging areas, from advanced manufacturing and semiconductors to sustainable proteins and medtech innovation. The common thread is not simply investment in a promising sector. It is the attempt to build the wider ecosystem around it by connecting organisations that hold different pieces of the puzzle.
For the GREATER MSP Partnership, this is a different way of thinking about economic development. Rather than waiting for the next industry to emerge, the region is increasingly trying to create the conditions in which new industries can take root.
Medtech tour: Regional partners tour a Minnesota medtech facility. Cross-sector collaboration is helping the region turn longstanding strengths into new opportunities for investment, innovation and growth.
SAF blending facility: The opening of a new SAF blending facility in 2026 marked a major step in building Minnesota’s sustainable aviation fuel industry, enabling SAF to be blended, certified and delivered directly to MSP International Airport at commercial scale.
Putting Regional Character to Work
Minnesota is now applying this capacity for collaboration to a more fundamental economic challenge. Its economy has not been growing fast enough to sustain the level of opportunity and prosperity the state wants to provide and has historically enjoyed.
The GREATER MSP Partnership has introduced a concept called “Greater Growth,” an ambition to accelerate economic growth while concentrating effort on areas where Minnesota has genuine strengths and where economic expansion can create broader opportunity. It also reflects a wider question: what kind of economy does Minnesota want to build for the future, and how can that growth remain aligned with the values that have shaped the state?
This puts the region’s collaborative culture to a new test. Bringing people together is one thing. Aligning them around a sufficiently ambitious economic future, and then turning that ambition into action, is another.
The question for the GREATER MSP Partnership is therefore not simply whether Minnesota can grow. It is whether the same capacity to build institutions, work across boundaries and take on difficult problems can help the region build what comes next.
Behind the Scenes: Peter Frosch on Leading GREATER MSP
Peter Frosch has worked across business, civic leadership and economic development. In this conversation, he reflects on the experiences that have shaped his leadership, the idea of “neighborism” and the people who influence his thinking, while sharing some of the initiatives and achievements that have shaped GREATER MSP’s work.
Why the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Story Matters
GREATER MSP offers an example of what regional collaboration can make possible when it becomes more than a way of working and starts to become an asset in its own right. Its experience suggests that some of the hardest economic challenges are better approached by bringing together people and institutions with different capabilities, perspectives and interests.
As GREATER MSP puts that collaborative model to work on Minnesota’s next economic chapter, its ability to turn alignment into action will be worth watching. For other regions facing similarly complex challenges, there may be something to learn from the way GREATER MSP has chosen to build.
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