Medical Alley today release a 10-year strategic plan to guide the medical technology cluster in Minnesota that seeks to have the state “recognized as the global epicenter of health innovation and care.”
The trade association came up with the plan after a pair of stakeholder meetings last year involving representatives from all corners of the North Star State’s healthcare industry. The goal is to maintain the area’s competitiveness while developing the conditions to foster an early-stage ecosystem, according to a press release.
“Minnesota’s place of leadership in the great history of healthcare advancement is secure. The goal of our board and community is to ensure that Medical Alley continues to lead the transformation of healthcare around the world,” Medical Alley Assn. president & CEO Shaye Mandle said in prepared remarks. “We’re excited to lay this foundation for the public and private sectors to work together to deliver the next generation of solutions and opportunities that define health innovation and care.”
“Minnesota has a rich tradition of growing transformational healthcare companies and the talent to keep them innovating. Competing globally requires our elected officials to enact policies that encourage investment and growth, attract new talent, and properly prepares our workforce for the jobs this growth will create,” added Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) peripheral interventions president Jeff Mirviss, co-chair of the working group that came up with the plan.
“Supporting startups and early-stage companies is critical to ensure that Minnesota remains the global epicenter of health innovation and care. This report puts forward solutions that require commitment and leadership from the public and private sectors. We look forward to working with our state’s leaders on moving these forward,” co-chair Sheri Dodd, a VP and GM of Medtronic’s care management solutions & non-intensive diabetes therapies business, said in the release.
Minnesota enjoys one of the largest U.S. medical device clusters, along with the greater Boston area, southern California and that state’s San Francisco Bay area. That said, the report concluded, there are several problems with the business environment in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
The report, which aims to improve the situation over the next few years, identified four key issues: Creating a landscape that attracts investment; improving the environment for early-stage investment in healthcare startups; significantly increasing the area’s draw for talented workers and preparing the existing workforce for changes in the healthcare market; and raising the region’s profile among “key opinion leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and innovators as the place they need to be to achieve success in healthcare.”
Medical Alley’s report detailed a clutch of proposals to effect the changes it wants to see, including reducing state personal and corporate tax rates, the creation of business incubators and locally based venture funds, Minnesota-backed programs to attract and retain talent and a national awareness campaign.
