Hosted by

Governor
Tim Pawlenty

Welcome to the 4th Annual Minnesota Cup

Welcome to Minnesota's 4th annual Minnesota Cup competition! This year's competition is expected to be bigger and better than ever, with more Minnesota entrepreneurs getting the help they need to commercialize great ideas.

In this rapidly changing world, our future success depends in large part on our ability to innovate, to inspire innovation among Minnesota entrepreneurs. The Minnesota Cup was launched in 2005. True to form, Minnesotans did not disappoint. There have been more than 1800 entries from 50 counties in the state over the past three years.

Minnesota is living up to the promise of author Thomas Friedman, who said America can win the global economic battle as "the world's dream machine." Minnesotans are great innovators because we're big dreamers. We are blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit that is fueled by a long heritage of innovation. More than half our economic growth comes from industries that barely existed a decade ago, and the search for great ideas - or the discovery of the next big thing - is a key to our success.

Our culture of innovation has yielded a long list of inventions that range from life-changing to downright fun. Everything from the wearable pacemaker (1957), to retractable seatbelts (1963), rollerblades (1980), water skiing (1921), and the Milky Way candy bar (1923).

Innovation is what Minnesota does best, and I expect the ideas that emerge from this year's competition will demonstrate that spirit.

Sincerely,

Tim Pawlenty
Governor