Mark Phillips, the incoming commissioner of the state's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), counts engaging the business community as his number-one priority, according to a
question-and-answer with Dee DePass for the StarTribune.
Phillips cites his 25 years of experience "networking, engaging businesses, and finding out what they need," he tells DePass.
Close behind business engagement are "technology transfer" and improving access to capital.
"I am high on technology," says Phillips, adding that the state must ensure that technologies, such as the bioscience coming out of the U of M, get developed here, and that venture capital is invested locally to grow companies in Minnesota.