Naiku, which translates to “teacher” in Lao, is a mobile learning company that delivers innovative assessment solutions to schools and is leading the next revolution in K-12 education. 

Naiku’s SaaS platform provides teachers with outstanding real-time insight into the strengths and needs of their students, facilitating personalized instruction. Through online assessments and proprietary data mining algorithms, Niaku can identify each student’s learning profile. This empowers teachers to adapt and personalize instruction for each student.

The Naiku team first came together when Adisack Nhouyvanisvong Ph.D. and Corey Thompson met in the MBA program at the University Of Minnesota Carlson School Of Management. After graduation, the two founded Naiku in November of 2010.

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Xollai is a Minnesota systems engineering firm founded by four classmates at the University of St. Thomas in 2008.  Robert Malecki, Ryan Thompson, Lue Her, and Anthony Giang were dubbed “The Dream Team” by their professors and peers for their ability to create solutions to problems that had previously been thought to be impossible. The students first gained notoriety for their work on an advanced automated guidance technology for unmanned aerial vehicles. After being told that such a technology could not be done, they decided to take their work one step further. In Robert Malecki’s living room, they formed a company to take their first product, xOARS, to market.

Since then, Xollai has pioneered advances in feedback control systems for unmanned aerial vehicles, advanced image processing for computerized recognition, and visualized audio analysis for musicians. The company is now headquartered on University Avenue in St. Paul and has grown to 10 employees. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of private and public grants have been used to fund Xollai’s growth and research. One million dollars are currently being sought by Xollai to bring its products to market.

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When a tactical police unit is faced with a dangerous situation, reconnaissance can be the difference between life and death. In these cases, it is vital to have a clear sense of the surroundings, the position of the gunmen, and the condition of any other people on the scene. Units looking to get the best recon without putting their men needlessly at risk have turned to an exciting new partner: robots. From an otherwise normal looking office building, adjacent to a golf course in Edina, robots are the business of ReconRobotics.

The robots that the company builds provide essential assistance to police units and military squads, giving them the recon needed to act safely and decisively. The company’s foremost robot is the Recon Scout Throwbot. With two wheels connected by a cylindrical chassis, the robot resembles a dumbbell. Piloting the robot from a distance, the user receives real-time video from wherever the robot goes.

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EarthClean is a Minnesota-based innovator in the field of delivering more effective, environmentally friendly, fire suppressant products.  EarthClean prides itself on building an international company with a goal “to change the way the world fights fires.” 

There has been growing concern over the toxicity of existing firefighting foams and how they can be harmful to fish, mammals, plants and the watershed.  EarthClean’s first product, TetraKO, is a direct response to this concern. 

Unlike all other products in its category, TetraKO employs a patented formula that provides an incredibly effective fire suppressant when mixed with water.  This technology transforms water into a gel that can be pumped through standard firefighting equipment and adheres to structures and vegetation creating a fire suppression coating. Once the gel is heated by fire, TetraKO converts to a steam that quickly suffocates the fire.  EarthClean hopes that TetraKO will have a significant impact in reducing fire damage, loss of lives, water damages and loss of wildlife, while providing better protection to fire fighters and to the environment.

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Yesterday, Governor Dayton heard the concerns of local St. Cloud business executives during a regional economic-development summit at St. Cloud Technical and Community College.

The St. Cloud Times reports that Governor Dayton spoke on the need to "expand businesses' access to capital, and to better align the state's job-training programs with professions that have a surplus of job openings."

The summit was aimed at gathering the best ideas on job creation from Minnesotans and to highlight Minnesota's strong business climate and economic development opportunities. The Governor is holding statewide jobs summit on October 25, 2011.

Check out part of the St. Cloud Times article below:

Energy costs, a lack of commercial air service and a shortage of qualified workers are hampering job growth in Central Minnesota, local business executives told Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday morning.

The comments came during a regional economic-development summit Dayton scheduled at St. Cloud Technical and Community College. It was one of a series of summits Dayton has conducted across the state this month to gather ideas on job creation from local leaders and entrepreneurs.

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After the summit, Dayton told reporters his statewide tour has highlighted several economic issues he hopes to incorporate into his legislative agenda for 2012. That includes the need to expand businesses' access to capital, and to better align the state's job-training programs with professions that have a surplus of job openings.

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Last night, Governor Dayton gave the keynote address at the Minnesota Business Partnership Annual Dinner and called on Minnesota's business leaders to join him in addressing the issues facing the state.

The Star Tribune reports that the Governor asked business leaders to help rebuild our state's infrastructure and improve our higher education system.  Check out some excerpts below and read the full article here.

"I am trying to identify those who are willing to join in partnership," Dayton told about 700 business leaders at the Minnesota Business Partnership's annual dinner in downtown Minneapolis.

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Dayton told the business leaders that the state is at a critical time in addressing higher education and infrastructure needs, including a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.

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He wants business leaders to get involved to help identify "pillars of excellence" in the higher education system that can be improved and built upon.

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Yesterday, the Governor's Office announced the breakout sessions for the 2011 Governor's Job Summit.  The summit will feature two breakout sessions where attendees can choose from separate panels, each addressing a separate aspect of growing businesses and creating jobs.

Some of the topics include: Capital Access for Small Businesses, Energy Efficiency + Job creation, Reducing the Cost of Government for Business Growth, Infrastructure for the 21st Century, Workforce Solutions Designed to Meet Business Needs, and much more.

For the complete list of sessions and their moderators, click here.

The statewide summit is culmination of the Governor’s conversations with Minnesotans across the state about the best ways to grow and strengthen our economy.  These conversations will provide the agenda for the summit, with a focus on workforce alignment, access to capital for small businesses and increasing our state’s exports.

The Governor's Job Summit will be held on Tuesday, October 25, 2011.

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Last night, Governor Dayton spoke at the launch of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership (Greater MSP Partnership), which is committed to economic growth and prosperity in the 13-county Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area.

The Greater MSP Partnership is another example of public-private organizations and businesses working together to create jobs and put Minnesotans back to work. It will focus on five areas to increase job growth in the Twin Cities: health and life sciences, corporate headquarters and business services, food and agribusiness, innovation and technology, and financial services and insurance.

Governor Dayton's remarks at the launch of the Greater MSP Partnership is just another example of his focus on jobs and gathering input from a broad spectrum of Minnesotans on how to get our economy working again. The Governor will hold a jobs summit on October 25th - another in a series of steps his administration is taking to Minnesotans back to work.

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Last week, details came out about Governor Dayton’s upcoming jobs summit on October 25th.  While this event will certainly be a great chance to gather input from an even broader spectrum of Minnesotans about how we get our economy working again, it will be just one of a series of steps our administration is taking to put Minnesotans back to work.
 
Preceding the summit, Governor Dayton has visited nearly a dozen communities asking for input from all Minnesotans about how we can grow businesses and create jobs across the state.  Most recently, he was in Duluth soliciting ideas from business leaders and community officials.  Several business leaders cited government incentives that allowed them to expand or grow their companies, and the Governor reiterated his belief that government has a role to play in job creation.
 
One of the things that government can do to ensure that private businesses can hire is to help small businesses access the capital they need to grow.  Last week the Department of Employment and Economic Development announced a new grant that would mean $15.5 million in new funding for small business lenders.  This public/private partnership will help thousands of small businesses in our state and create up to 3,000 jobs.

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This morning, the Grand Forks Herald has a story on Governor Dayton's regional economic development summit in Thief River Falls. The article highlights the Governor's focus on job creation throughout the state.

“Jobs and economic growth are my goal for the next three years,” Gov. Dayton said during the summit. See the article below.

Grand Forks Herald: Jobs, population discussed during northwest Minnesota summit

THIEF RIVER FALLS — In the midst of a struggling statewide economy, the community of Thief River Falls has a problem other Minnesota cities might wish they had.

Thief River Falls and neighboring communities such as Roseau, located in the northwest corner of the state, have plenty of jobs but are in need of more people and more housing.

At a regional economic development summit held Monday at the theater on the campus of Northland Community and Technical College, 16 panelists, including Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, answered questions and addressed concerns about the lack of available housing and workers.

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