Recapping our Trade Mission to Germany and Switzerland

By DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek

Willkommen! I’m happy to report on our successful November trade mission to Switzerland and Germany with Gov. Walz and a delegation of Minnesota businesses and economic developers.

Germany and Switzerland are two of Minnesota’s largest and most important trade partners. In 2024, Germany was Minnesota's eighth largest export market for goods, valued at $649 million, and Switzerland was Minnesota's 22nd largest export market, valued at $232 million. Companies from both countries have significant investments in Minnesota, and they’re important partners for our medtech, cleantech, agriculture and higher education sectors. In fact, these four industries made up the core focus of our mission.

Here are a few highlights from our trip:

Business visits: We were excited to visit several companies that have homes in both Minnesota and Germany or Switzerland.

We visited the European regional headquarters of Ecolab in Zurich. Ecolab is a sustainability leader based in St. Paul, with a global reach. It operates across all major European markets with 15 major offices, 26 manufacturing facilities and seven research, development, and engineering centers, and we were excited to see where all that work starts!

We also had a memorable visit with another well-known Minnesota company – this time in Germany at 3M Deutschland GmbH for a cleantech overview and lunch panel. I served as moderator of the panel and spoke with three Minnesota experts, Al Johnson from Bot Crew, Gregg Mast from Clean Energy Economy Minnesota (CEEM) and Mark Schramek from Niron Magnetics, to share how their companies are advancing innovation, often by partnering with the state. 

Commissioner Varilek participates in a 3M cleantech program and lunch panel in Germany

We also visited the global headquarters of the Swiss company Bühler, a technology partner for the food, feed and mobility industries. Bühler has an office in Plymouth where it operates an extraordinary apprenticeship program – one that the Governor and I saw firsthand during a business visit two years ago. We also met with leadership of Georg Fischer (operating in Minnesota under the Uponor brand name), a Swiss manufacturer whose plumbing and infrastructure arm has its North American headquarters in Apple Valley.

Governor Walz and Commissioner Varilek hear details about manufacturing valves at Georg Fischer in Switzerland.

Minnesota companies succeeding overseas. Foreign companies investing in Minnesota. These visits underscore the core work of trade missions like this one, and the work of DEED’s Minnesota Trade Office overall.

Minnesota receptions: We held a reception in Zurich and two receptions during our time in Germany. First, the Zurich reception was a chance to broaden the Swiss network for our state and the trade mission delegates. The next day, we hosted a major event in Düsseldorf to highlight Minnesota’s economic and industrial strengths and to celebrate the close ties between Minnesota and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In Berlin, we held an event to network and establish connections with government, business and academic leaders in Germany’s capital. Every event attracted huge crowds – another sign of the close relationship between Minnesota and both Switzerland and Germany.

MEDICA: Separately, we invited European business leaders to a special breakfast at the MEDICA trade fair, where we had the opportunity to promote Minnesota as the leading U.S. destination for medtech and life sciences investment. Our delegation's economic development partners spoke directly to an international business audience to promote Minnesota as the home of American innovation, clinical research and commercialization. MEDICA is the world’s largest medical technology and health care trade show, and the Minnesota Pavilion showcased our state and Minnesota-based companies to 78,000 attendees from 160 nations. We’ve had a significant presence at MEDICA for several years, but this was the first time a trade mission coincided with the show.

Governor Walz and Commissioner Varilek join co-exhibitors and partners in the Minnesota Pavilion at the MEDICA tradeshow in Düsseldorf.

Trade show delegation members were impressed by our booth and enjoyed the chance to talk with exhibitors and guests about why they should consider Minnesota as a place to invest in innovation and growth. I’m proud of DEED and our partners (Destination Medical Center, Medical Alley and GreaterMSP) and co-exhibitors (Augustine Surgical, Bone Foam, Enova Illumination and MRIequip) for the strong work that went into talking about opportunities with Minnesota at this trade show.

We had several other important stops on this trade mission, visiting political leaders, business conferences and company headquarters, and telling Minnesota’s story along the way. This was an important mission for our state: with federal trade policy changing in unprecedented and harmful ways, we needed to assure our trade partners that Minnesota is open for business. We found a friendly and eager audience with our Swiss and German partners – I anticipate this mission paying dividends for Minnesota businesses and workers for years to come.

DEED Developments Blog

Subscribe to receive more information from DEED.