Minnesota’s economic recovery following the Great Recession, and where it goes from here, were the focus of an address by guest speaker Laura Kalambokidis, who is Minnesota’s state economist and head of Economic Analysis at Minnesota Management & Budget. Minnesota’s economic recovery has been more rapid and robust than in many states, she said, because of Minnesota’s educated workforce and its diverse economic base. The state is well-represented in many, many different industrial sectors instead of just a few. And some of its largest sectors have recovered rapidly, including the “education and health services” sector. As a result, Minnesota reached “recovery” – with employment back at pre-recession levels – about seven months earlier than the U.S. economy, and it’s added more than 70,000 jobs since then. But there are still areas of concern. For example, Minnesota African Americans as a group have an unemployment rate of 15.4% compared to 2.8% for whites – that’s twice the disparity of those two groups nationally. And, the growth in Minnesota’s labor force is slowing due to demographic changes, meaning that without sudden changes our workforce is going to need to be more productive in order to keep pace. How do we influence that productivity? It’s about focusing on workers’ health and education, she said, and also making gains in research, innovation, and infrastructure. We need to “leave no immigrant behind” and “leave no entrepreneur behind,” she added.