From October 29 to 31, 2017, Ambassador Wolfgang Waldner visited the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul and Bloomington in Minnesota. This region along the banks of the Mississippi River has served as the cultural, commercial, educational, and healthcare center of the state in the northern Midwest of the US.
The Ambassador met with local government and business representatives at a reception hosted by Governor Mark Dayton and was briefed by the mayor of Bloomington Gene Winstead on the states’ candidature for hosting the Expo 2023.
On this trip, he had the opportunity to visit Medtronic, the world's largest medical technology company, and the innovation center at 3M, a global science company and renowned maker/inventor of Post-it Notes and Scotch tape.
A tour of the A-Mill Artist Lofts provided greater insight how arts investment can transform a local economy. Minneapolis' historic Pillsbury A-Mill, once the largest flour mill in the world, was successfully converted into affordable live/work artist lofts.
Additional activities included a "white glove" tour at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and a behind-the-scenes visit to the Mall of America, the second largest mall the United States based on number of stores and square footage.
The trip to Minnesota was part of the "Experience America" program organized by the U.S. State Department.
All Photos (c) twitter.com/WaldnerWolfgang