More than any other Midwestern state, Minnesota attracted entrepreneurs and engineers, especially in the computer industry, and became a leading center of computer manufacturing after the war.
 Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the Navy and the intelligence agencies.
 It merged with Remington Rand, and soon became a division of Sperry Rand.
 William Norris, Seymour Cray, and others left Sperry in 1957 to form Control Data Corporation (CDC).
 Cray Research was formed when Cray left CDC to form his own company.
 "Minnesota was the undisputed epicenter of top-secret digital computing for decades."
 Medical device maker Medtronic also was founded in the Twin Cities in 1949.
Honeywell was a national force in computing until selling its computer division to Groupe Bull in 1989, remaining a prominent military and aerospace concern headquartered in Minnesota until 1999 when, after a merger, it moved to New Jersey.
 National firms, such as International Business Machines, moved manufacturing and R&D operations to Minnesota.
 State government and powerful politicians such as Hubert Humphrey maintained a favorable climate.
 The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium brought state-wide networked computing in the 1970s and developed educational software such as the popular "Oregon Trail" game.
 The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis combined computing power with financial clout across its region from Montana to upper Michigan.
 The University of Minnesota trained many computer specialists who decided to stay in the Minnesota rather than move to sunny California.
 Minnesota thus preceded the better-known industrial districts of Route 128 around Boston and Silicon Valley.
 An active high-technology sector is represented today by Alliant Techsystems, Ceridian, Cray, Digi International, Digital River, Geek Squad, Hutchinson Technology, Imation, IBM Rochester, Lawson Software, MacSoft, Medtronic, MTS Systems, St. Jude Medical, Stratasys, SPS Commerce, 3M, and more than 400 smaller software companies.
More than any other Midwestern state, Minnesota attracted entrepreneurs and engineers, especially in the computer industry, and became a leading center of computer manufacturing after the war.  Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the Navy and the intelligence agencies.  It merged with Remington Rand, and soon became a division of Sperry Rand.  William Norris, Seymour Cray, and others left Sperry in 1957 to form Control Data Corporation (CDC).  Cray Research was formed when Cray left CDC to form his own company.  "Minnesota was the undisputed epicenter of top-secret digital computing for decades."  Medical device maker Medtronic also was founded in the Twin Cities in 1949. Honeywell was a national force in computing until selling its computer division to Groupe Bull in 1989, remaining a prominent military and aerospace concern headquartered in Minnesota until 1999 when, after a merger, it moved to New Jersey.  National firms, such as International Business Machines, moved manufacturing and R&D operations to Minnesota.  State government and powerful politicians such as Hubert Humphrey maintained a favorable climate.  The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium brought state-wide networked computing in the 1970s and developed educational software such as the popular "Oregon Trail" game.  The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis combined computing power with financial clout across its region from Montana to upper Michigan.  The University of Minnesota trained many computer specialists who decided to stay in the Minnesota rather than move to sunny California.  Minnesota thus preceded the better-known industrial districts of Route 128 around Boston and Silicon Valley.  An active high-technology sector is represented today by Alliant Techsystems, Ceridian, Cray, Digi International, Digital River, Geek Squad, Hutchinson Technology, Imation, IBM Rochester, Lawson Software, MacSoft, Medtronic, MTS Systems, St. Jude Medical, Stratasys, SPS Commerce, 3M, and more than 400 smaller software companies.
Economy of Minnesota