Overheard at the North Star Summit

Today I attended the North Star Summit, the Minnesota Star Tribune’s inaugural in-person thought leadership event held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

I went in with no expectations, other than it seemed like a great opportunity to learn a bit more about the state of midwest journalism / tech / jobs and meet a few movers and shakers in those respective areas.

The event did not disappoint. It was a full day of big name speakers: Governors JB Pritzker and Tim Walz, OpenAI’s Chief Economist, Executives from Mayo Clinic, US Bank, the MN Vikings, startup founders, renowned artists and chefs, and more.

Overall the content was a prescient look at our current moment in time, offering some clues as to where the ball is moving over the next 25 years. Capturing here in amber a few of the themes, facts, quotes, and opinions that stood out for future reference:

• First and foremost - we are witnessing 3 of the most important technological revolutions in human history happening simultaneously before our eyes: AI, renewable energy, and bioengineering

• The likes of these transformations happen maybe once every ~80 years, much less 3 at the same time. The last time we saw anything like this was maybe The Enlightenment.

• This tech means our society will achieve abundant education, energy, and healthcare in the next 25 years - which not only impact the economy and society, but our entire civilization as we know it. Staggering implications

• The healthcare component was most eye-opening to me; Mayo Clinic for example is going all in on this, investing $9B+ to rebuild their Rochester campus for AI, with “robot and drone highways”, ECGs that can read your bio-age within 6 months and detect alzheimers years early

• These boons will not be without trial and tribulation - population growth (a primary driver of economic growth for most of human history) will come to a halt in the Midwest over the next 25 years, and globally within the next 50.

• Birth rates are likely in permanent decline; these economies will need to embrace migration and AI as viable options to preserve expansion over the next decade or accept economic contraction and instability.

• The Twin Cities in particular have maintained a workforce advantage so far relative to other similarly-sized cities because of its high rate of dual-career households (80%!), making it a good place for large corporates to hire white collar jobs, and a great place to join startups bc it’s likely your partner has a good enough job to take on this risk

• Manufacturing is an exception; many companies still prefer to set up shop in southern states like TX, NC, TN, GA because of the more affordable energy and housing costs (and thus labor) costs. The midwest can gain manufacturing share by investing in energy and housing

• Speaking of energy: some AI adoption and data center forecasts suggest that energy demand could increase by more than 25% in the next two decades, a serious dilemna for our current grid and utilities. Pollution is also a concern; data center emmissions are projected to hit 2-7x the airtravel industry in that period. Politics is a contributing factor.

• Speaking of housing: this is the ticket when it comes to stable economy in the midwest. The rise of remote work has affected domestic migration drastically over the past 10 years, and we will likely see biggest population increases in Tier 4-6 cities over the next decade which the midwest has an abundance of (ex: your Eau Claires, Duluths, Rapid Cities, Kalamazoos) - but it only works if they can build the housing to match; one potential option could be 3D printed housing.

Other Random Things:

• 28% of songs streaming on platforms like Spotify are now reportedly AI generated (lots of which is backround music being played on restaurant/hotel lobby playlists without the royalty payment obligations)

• There’s been a 75% decline in local reporters / journalism throughout the US over just the past 10 years, which is likely the culprit (not the symptom) of declining trust in media

• 40% of ticket sale revenues for local music venues is scalped by brokers like Live Nation according to the owner of First Avenue in Minneapolis

• Microbreweries in MN are selling more THC beverages than actual beer in 2025; Surly (one of MN’s largest microbreweries) claims it would be out of business without THC beverages

• Prince’s Purple Rain movie is apparently being adapted into a Broadway Show, very exciting for the people of my home state!

Anyways, those were just a few things I overheard. Overall it was a really nice event, I learned a lot and met a few great folks. If you are considering whether or not to attend next year, take this as my official endorsement.

Peace,
Ramsey