Minnesota’s economy is always evolving and changing as industries grow, demographics shift, and communities adapt to new opportunities and challenges. In this webinar, we explore key economic trends shaping Minnesota today, including current and growing industries, demographic changes affecting the workforce, and topics influencing economic development across the state.
On-demand webinar
Recorded: March 24, 2026
Shared resources
Presentation slides
Research
- Economic impact analysis
- Bureau of Business and Economic Research
- Small Town Development case studies (studies from Minnesota and other towns nationwide)
- The decoupling of home and work
- The age of mobility
Presenters
Brigid Tuck is a community economics applied research specialist with University of Minnesota Extension. She conducts analyses and writes reports for the Economic Impact Analysis (EIA) program, which she helped launch in early 2009.
Since then, the EIA program has issued more than three dozen studies, covering numerous economic sectors in Minnesota - including tourism, education, manufacturing, retail, infrastructure and local foods. She also travels across the state, helping communities understand their economies and how economic change is shaping the future.
Ben Winchester has been working both in and for small towns across the Midwest for around 30 years. He lives in St. Cloud, Minnesota with his wife and two children.
Ben is trained as a Rural Sociologist and works in the Extension Department of Community Development at the University of Minnesota. He conducts applied research on economic, social, and demographic topics surrounding a theme of “rewriting the rural narrative” and received the Rural Renewal Research Prize in 2021 for this work.
This webinar is part of the University of Minnesota Extension, Community Development’s CD Exchange series and is co-sponsored by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Reviewed in 2026