Amazon, Minnesota should be your next home. Here's why.

An Open Letter to the Amazon HQ Search Committee

By: Congressman Tom Emmer

You’re looking for communities that think big? Uff da. Look no further. Home to Paul Bunyan, the Jolly Green Giant, the Mall of America, the World's largest ball of twine, and the largest 12-day event in North America (The Great Minnesota Get Together), Minnesota certainly has the whole “thinking big” thing covered.

10,000 lakes definitely has a nice ring to it, but, if you want more, Minnesota actually has 11,842. This includes Lake Superior, which is the biggest lake in the country!

We built a stadium with the largest pivoting glass doors and clear roof (pronounced by most Minnesotans as “ruff”). And, some of the biggest artists of all time, like Bob Dylan and Prince, have called Minnesota home.

You also need a highly skilled and dedicated workforce? We’ve got that too.

Our state is consistently at the top of national k-12 and higher education rankings, and we employ some of the smartest individuals in emerging technology skills in the world.

In addition to our prestigious University of Minnesota and other state colleges and universities that serve more than 375,000 students, Minnesota is home to 17 private colleges. Politico named us the best state in the country, taking into account factors such as graduation rates, testing scores, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) jobs, and life expectancy.

Minnesotans are smart, friendly and strong. Our diverse culture has created a community of hard workers who are among the most civically minded people in the country. Our “Minnesota Nice” comes from treating strangers like friends – something we would like to do with the Amazon family.

How does a state that is known for our SPAM and cheese curds also rank among the healthiest in the nation you may ask? Could be our loyalty to our state’s creation of the Honeycrisp Apple. Maybe it’s because Minneapolis – despite our beautiful and exhilarating winter – was the only city in the entire country to land on the most bike-friendly cities in the world list. Or, it may have something to do with our incredible health care and medical entrepreneurs innovators.

Minnesota is home to the Mayo Clinic, the top ranked hospital in the country and for years has been developing the Silicon Valley of medical devices and medicine. “Medical Alley” as it is now known, is one of Smithsonian’s “Places of Invention,” due to an impressive track record including the creation of the first mobile and wearable pacemaker, and the first open heart surgery. In fact, Minnesota is such a leader in health innovation that we are currently competing against Poland and Argentina to host the 2023 World’s Expo with a focus on Healthy People, Healthy Planet. Like Amazon, Minnesotans are not afraid to compete on the world stage.

While our state consistently ranks among the best in the country for health and education, Minnesotans also bring an edge of creativity to the table which rivals some of the same innovation friendly practices and R&D policies that created Silicon Valley. In fact, some will even argue that it was Minnesota that started the digital revolution with the creation of the Oregon Trail video game…but I digress.

Our ingenuity has led to the creation of the Nerf Ball and Zubaz – which still fill our closets to this day (only purple and gold, of course). Many of our innovators who have become national retail companies call Minnesota home, and we proudly host a business community second-to-none with 18 Fortune 500 Companies like Target, Best Buy, 3M and General Mills. There is little doubt why so many titans of industry have consistently found a home in our state, and Minnesotans go to work every day knowing the next big idea or innovation is right around the corner.

We’ll act polite and modest, but is there really any question where your next home should be?

And, if you worried you won’t be happy here, I’m pleased to let you know that Minnesota was recently named the happiest state in the country, so we’ve got that covered too. Oh, and if you have any trepidation about our beautiful winter weather, we quite literally have you covered with the world’s longest skyway system.

I’m happy to join the many Minnesotans in welcoming additional expansions of Amazon’s operations to our state. Minnesota’s people, culture, and landscape will have you saying “ya sure, you betcha” to placing your new headquarters in Minnesota in no time.

This is the opinion of Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s Sixth District in the U.S. House.