On June 21, a vote takes place in Paris to determine who will host the 2027 World’s Fair. Minnesota’s bid to host has four competitors — Serbia, Argentina, Thailand, and Spain. Serbia, Argentina, Thailand, and Spain.
I’m confident we will win. Here’s why.
First, our bid has strong support from national and local leaders.
Minnesota’s congressional delegation, both Republicans and Democrats, have been enthusiastic backers since the beginning. Reps. Emmer, McCollum, and Phillips crafted and passed vital legislation and Rep. Omar spoke eloquently for our bid at crucial international meetings. All our recent U.S. senators — Boschwitz, Coleman, Franken, Klobuchar, and Smith championed Minnesota’s bid, as did Govs. Pawlenty, Dayton and Walz. This bi-partisan approach was key to official approval from Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden.
Second, we have a universally relevant theme, “Good Health and Wellbeing.”
One of the founders of the Minnesota bid, business leader Marilyn Carlson Nelson, brought this theme forward with strong endorsement from her co-chairs, Vice President Fritz Mondale, and Gov. Arne Carlson. The Covid pandemic has made the wisdom of this choice even more apparent. The bid’s tagline, “Healthy People, Healthy Planet,” was carefully woven throughout our formal bid by DLR architect David Loehr.
Third, we have momentum from over a decade of harnessing the passion of hundreds of Minnesotans and others who love Minnesota.
An army of volunteers have contributed thousands of hours as board members, media professionals, designers, lawyers, and grassroots lobbyists. Small but mighty teams of consultants, staff, and interns have kept the momentum flowing despite tight budgets, ably led these past two years by CEO John Stanoch.
Fourth, we are confident because our bid is backed by nearly every country on the African Continent.
This support was created through intensive country-by-country organizing by Minnesota Africans United, often called MAU.
For the past two years, MAU has organized in-person and digital meetings between our African diaspora leaders here in Minnesota with heads of state, foreign ministers, and ambassadors from nearly every African country. These conversations have taken place both in Africa and here in the United States during special events like the U.S-Africa Leaders’ Summit held in Washington, D.C., last December. Nearly all African heads of state came to Washington for this summit, where they were warmly greeted by MAU’s team of diaspora leaders from our state.
This lobbying of African leaders was reinforced by successful MAU-led trade missions to Ghana, Cameroon, Zanzibar, Tanzania and Kenya, where multiple business deals were inked with Minnesota companies. These trade and investment promotion trips were very effective, becoming “grand slams” for Minnesota’s bid support.
The success of MAU’s campaigning caught the attention of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD invited MAU to co-host an international symposium to explore how events like our Minnesota Expo could amplify the benefits of African diaspora-led trade and investment. Several Minnesotan business leaders, including America’s Small Businessperson of the Year, Afro Deli’s founder Abdirahman Kahin, and Brown Venture Group’s co-founder, Dr. Chris Brooks, presented at this MAU/OECD global live-cast symposium including over 200 government officials, journalists, and diplomats from African countries — a number of whom will be voting in June on Minnesota’s bid.
When you hear the good news that Minnesota has prevailed on June 21, be sure to thank our political leaders from both parties, the grassroots groups like Minnesota Africans United, all the volunteers, board members and staff who kept this dream alive and growing in strength over the past decade.
Thanks to their hard work and determined persistence, we will prevail.
Mark Ritchie is co-founder and a board member of Minnesota USA Expo 2027 and chair of the World’s Fair Bid Committee Educational Fund.
