Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha swung a mallet Thursday morning to open trading on the New York Stock Exchange. His action was novel because Martha clanged the bell remotely from a stage at Medtronic’s operational headquarters in Fridley. A crowd of his CEO peers in Minnesota showed up to applaud and cheer.

But the exchange opening wasn’t meant to be a blip on Minnesota’s business radar. The event elevated Minnesota’s business community in the eyes of the New York-based stock exchange. Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE Group, was in Minnesota for the ceremony and she interviewed Best Buy CEO Corie Barry and nVent CEO Beth Wozniak about the unique aspects of Minnesota’s business ecosystem. Martin’s attention was drawn to the collaborative nature of Minnesota’s business leaders.

Several attendees used the word celebration to characterize what transpired Thursday. But for Martha, who serves as chairman of the Minnesota Business Partnership, the event went beyond a feel-good session. He used it as a kickoff for an effort to strengthen and expand Minnesota’s headquarters economy.

In 2025, there are 30 companies on the New York Stock Exchange that are Minnesota-based or have their operational headquarters located in the state.

“Let’s be clear, this ecosystem won’t sustain itself,” Martha said in his concluding remarks Thursday. “It takes attention. It takes investment. We have to evolve. It takes all of us working together and investing with urgency in both people and place, and at the center of all this is our talent.”

Martha talked about the need for increased commitment to talent development inside and outside Minnesota companies. “It means strengthening our schools and universities,” he said. “It means expanding access to internships, apprenticeships, and hands-on experiences. And it means showing students and young professionals, the next generation, that Minnesota is the place to launch bold ideas and build meaningful careers.”

Over the next two years, Martha said, the Minnesota Business Partnership will be carrying out coordinated campaigns to champion the headquarters economy, which will include increased engagement with government policymakers and better storytelling so various stakeholders will recognize the connection between strong businesses and healthy communities.

Facing competition threats

In a TCB interview following Thursday’s event, Martha said his chief worry is the competition that Minnesota’s economy and business sector faces from other states and countries. That’s why he said he wanted to use Thursday’s event as a “rally cry for the business community” that leaders need to step up their engagement in communicating about Minnesota’s assets, talking with politicians about policy proposals and the business climate, and expanding efforts to build and retain the talent base. “We can’t rest on our laurels,” Martha said.

He noted how companies, such as Medtronic, Ecolab, and Cargill, have evolved from regional to national to global companies. “A lot of our attention is in D.C. and, quite frankly, on global issues,” he said, so a CEO often is dealing with matters in Beijing and the European Union.

“We can’t forget about the importance of the partnership we have with the [state] government,” he said, adding that CEOs, in addition to their government affairs staff people, need to speak directly with legislators. He also lauded Gov. Tim Walz for “personally championing” a research and development tax credit, which he described as an investment in the future.

Martha said the business community needs to do a much better job of telling its story to lawmakers, employees, community members, and other stakeholders. “It’s not just anecdotes and stories,” he said. “We can quantify the impact. We’ve got to package it in a way that’s absorbable.”

Wozniak, nVent’s CEO, said after the meeting she concurs with Martha that many people don’t understand all the benefits that flow from profitable companies. “Having healthy businesses makes the state stronger because they employ people,” Wozniak said. “We give to communities, we have foundations. We create career paths. Sometimes, there’s a view that businesses are bad.” So she maintains there’s great value in analyzing ways to communicate more effectively, especially about how businesses support nonprofits and affect the overall quality of life in communities.

Three CEOs took part in a panel discussion moderated by Allison Kaplan, TCB’s editor-in-chief. She asked them what they would do to bolster the headquarters economy.

Dave Huml, Tennant’s CEO, said each business leader should ask themselves what they can do “to protect and preserve this ecosystem that supports all these wonderful businesses.” When invited to speak before groups, Huml said CEOs could move beyond talking about their own companies and include “headquarters economy messaging” in their remarks.

Michael Happe, CEO of Winnebago Industries, spoke about incubating entrepreneurs and small businesses. He also stressed the importance of creating a “win, win, win environment” that serves shareholders, employees, and communities.

Tax and regulatory climate

Happe elaborated after the meeting that Minnesota needs tax and regulatory policies that foster business growth. “There’s going to need to be some smaller companies that grow into the Fortune 500,” he said, adding the state needs a climate that “encourages those business leaders to start and grow their small businesses here.”

Gunjan Kedia, who became CEO of U.S. Bancorp in April, agreed with Happe that there needs to be a reasonable tax-and-regulatory system in place, otherwise people will choose to start businesses in other states.

Kedia emphasized the importance of having community amenities that people value. “It needs to be an attractive place for our talent to want to live,” she said. “There’s an aspect of this culture that allows people to be whoever they want to be, their identities.” She also extolled the virtues of having plentiful parks and nature offerings, excellent arts institutions, and a good restaurant scene.

While the bulk of people who attended Thursday’s event were executives, two Minnesota legislative caucus leaders also were present. They spoke to TCB after the event.

House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Cold Spring Republican, said lawmakers from both major political parties need to understand the importance of the business community. “The concern that you heard brought up toward the end, though, with both the tax environment and the regulatory environment, is something that we have got to prioritize and make sure that this is a place where businesses choose to grow, to stay, and to join us here in Minnesota,” Demuth said.

“What you’ve seen over the last few years, in policy that has come through, has made that more of a challenge for our large businesses,” she said.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, a Republican from East Grand Forks, shares Demuth’s concerns on tax and regulatory issues. He also said that he viewed Thursday’s event as valuable for building relationships between business leaders and lawmakers.

He indicated that Martha was “spot on” in highlighting the need for CEOs to directly engage with lawmakers all along the political spectrum. In that way, Johnson said, lawmakers will see that a big business isn’t a “faceless entity,” but rather a company that employs a father, a neighbor, or a friend. “Let’s work together on how we can build a stronger Minnesota,” he said.