From Toronto to Montreal, our business development mission featured meetings and events highlighting the important relationship and business opportunities between Minnesota and Canada.

One highlight from the Toronto portion of the trip involved a meeting of Governor Walz, Ontario Premier Ford and some of our respective colleagues and delegation members.

We also met with The Honorable Robert P. Sanders, Consul General of United States in Montreal to explore opportunities for Canadian businesses in our state. Consul General Sanders then joined us and 60 Canadian business leaders for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) breakfast. Our delegation members – from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, GreaterMSP, Medical Alley Association and Destination Medical Center – shared details about Minnesota as the leading U.S. business destination and provided insight into our thriving Minnesota ecosystem including AgTech, CleanTech and MedTech.

Next on our agenda was a visit to Agropur, which is Canada's second largest dairy company and ranked 15th among dairy companies worldwide. We met with Agropur's leadership to thank them for their FDI support in Minnesota and to encourage further investment in Minnesota's dairy sector. As a co-op, Agropur's producers are also owners. We discussed Agropur's presence across Minnesota: a 251,000-square-foot facility in Le Sueur where 235 employees manufacture cheese and dairy ingredients (this facility also supports 69 local Minnesota dairy producers!); an office facility in Eden Prairie; and a protein research center in St. Paul. And Agropur's products from Minnesota are sold to 16 different countries!

Overall, this business development mission fostered even closer ties with our important ally to the north – highlighting and growing our trade ties while reaffirming our friendly relationship with our Canadian neighbors. As I mentioned in my remarks at the two FDI events, those of us from "The State of Hockey" felt right at home from the very first meeting – in which a Canadian business leader used the figure of speech "skating to where the puck is headed!"

Upon our return, I'm encouraged by Minnesota's ongoing opportunity to strengthen its leadership in the global economy and am more committed than ever to helping DEED build a Minnesota economy that works, for everyone.