Decades ago, Minnesota had a large defense industry presence. Today, our state is 50th out of 50 for per capita spending from the Department of Defense (DoD), despite paying more in federal taxes than we receive in return. The DoD has the biggest budget of any department in the federal government, and Minnesota has been left out of many of their plans – until now.

A new effort is looking to change that, and one of the people spearheading the coalition is Bill Harper. Harper serves as the Board President of the Minnesota National Security Ecosystem, a relatively new group that was formed to help coordinate the state’s expansion into projects that can attract federal funding. In January, one of six nationwide Defense Innovation OnRamp Hubs opened in Minnesota  as part of “the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) nationwide effort to catalyze the defense technology ecosystem.”

The focus of this work is on “dual-use” technology, or technology that can serve both civilian or commercial goals as well as military ones. There is a concerted effort to make Minnesota the most advanced testing ecosystem for multiple fast-growing industries that could breed a new generation of advanced technology and manufacturing companies, which the state hopes to be able to keep and grow here after they’re done testing.

North Wind, located in Rosemount, will be pioneering the the first industrial hypersonic testing facility built in the U.S. in decades. It will be used to test aerospace technology, advanced missiles and missile defense, and hypersonic flight. One day, hypersonic planes will take people around the world in hours, and much of the testing to get us there could happen in Rosemount.

BioMADE is a bioindustrial manufacturing company that’s building a $132 million facility in Maple Grove. One example of their efforts has been their work developing a domestic source of natural rubber from a specific species of dandelion. Today, 90% of the world’s rubber is made from rubber trees that grow in tropical locations, but the belief is that this research can help produce a domestic source for rubber. This partnership, which includes Goodyear and the Department of Defense, is an example of how BioMADE is hoping to drive innovation in the bioindustrial space.

From Iran to Ukraine to Yemen, low cost weapons have been surprisingly effective against expensive weapons systems. Adapting to this new reality will take a massive effort, and Harper talks to us about how Minnesota is positioning itself to be a manufacturing hub for the future of the defense industry and the world we live in today.

Lake Superior is serving as the home for innovative new technology. Anno.ai is deploying buoys in the lake the build an AI labeling system for acoustic signatures for the Navy. Eventually, it is expected that the lake will serve as a test ground for underwater autonomous vehicles. Why Lake Superior? It’s far away from the coasts. In the winter, the lake is similar to the Arctic, and in the summer, it transforms. And not far away, abandoned mining tunnels are being used to simulate tunnel-based robotic combat around the world.

In today’s episode, Harper takes us through some of the possibilities and maps out a future in which Minnesota serves as the epicenter for an exciting new breed of companies that could drive growth in our state for decades to come.