Inside Minnesota’s Med Tech Powerhouse

How Medtronic and its local ecosystem are building the future of health care.

BY INC. CUSTOM STUDIO

When a huge Halloween storm in 1957 caused a citywide blackout in Minneapolis, the power outage proved fatal for a University of Minnesota hospital patient who was dependent on an external device. Earl Bakken, an electrical engineer who, in 1949, cofounded a hospital equipment repair company, Medtronic, was challenged by the patient’s physician to create a battery-powered pacemaker so that this would never happen again. Within four weeks, Bakken delivered—inventing the world’s first battery-operated external pacemaker. This was the genesis for the medical device industry.

More than seven decades later, Medtronic is the world’s largest medical technology company, with 90,000 employees in more than 150 countries and technologies that treat over 70 health conditions, which transform the lives of two patients every second. While Medtronic serves patients all over the world, its spirit of innovation remains deeply rooted in Minnesota, where its operational headquarters are located. Today, that spirit continues to be the driving force behind much of what the company does—and has spearheaded a thriving local med tech ecosystem.

Kelly Wei, VP of corporate strategy and innovation at Medtronic, describes that ecosystem as a flywheel, befitting its self-reinforcing nature. “Medtronic started the med tech industry,” she says. “Over decades, we served as talent incubators, training engineers, clinicians, and regulatory experts—as well........

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