Pioneer Press Editorial | Expo 2023 News Coverage
The Super Bowl in 2018 could be a prelude to another mega-event in the region, a World Expo projected to bring 10 million to 15 million people during a four-month summertime run in 2023.
It could be “like a Super Bowl every day,” said Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who is among leaders working to bring the event to Minnesota.
A decision on a Minnesota bid likely would be made in the fall of 2016. As was just demonstrated successfully in securing the Super Bowl, Ritchie said, Minnesotans “know how to put together fine representation of our region, our capacity and infrastructure.”
Efforts by chef Lenny Russo of Heartland restaurant in St. Paul are helping to foster needed relationships and increase our visibility. Russo has been playing a big part in shaping the U.S. presence at the 2015 World Expo in Milan, the Pioneer Press’ Jess Fleming reported last week.
Read the original article at
http://bit.ly/MinnesotaExpo23PP
Expo 2023 | Minnesota's World Fair
www.expo2023.info
Join our Expo 2023 Community at
Google+ | http://bit.ly/Expo2023GooglePlus
Facebook | http://bit.ly/Expo2023Facebook
Twitter | http://bit.ly/EXPO2023Twitter
YouTube | http://bit.ly/Expo2023YouTube
Pinterest | http://bit.ly/Expo2023Pinterest
Slideshare | http://bit.ly/Expo2023Slideshare
1. The Super Bowl in 2018 could be a prelude to another mega-event
in the region, a World Expo projected to bring 10 million to 15
million people during a four-month summertime run in 2023.
It could be “like a Super Bowl every day,” said Secretary of State
Mark Ritchie, who is among leaders working to bring the event to
Minnesota.
A decision on a Minnesota bid likely would be made in the fall of
2016. As was just demonstrated successfully in securing the Super
Bowl, Ritchie said, Minnesotans “know how to put together fine
representation of our region, our capacity and infrastructure.”
Efforts by chef Lenny Russo of Heartland restaurant in St. Paul are
helping to foster needed relationships and increase our visibility.
Russo has been playing a big part in shaping the U.S. presence at
the 2015 World Expo in Milan, the Pioneer Press’ Jess Fleming
reported last week.
The theme is Feeding the World, something about which
Minnesotans know a thing or two.
“If we do well, it would increase our chances for 2023,” Russo told
us. “Minnesota has a unique opportunity here to step out in front
and show what we have to offer.”
What’s needed? “An enormous amount of support from our
corporate friends here,” said Russo, noting participation that
includes such signature Minnesota companies as 3M and Pentair
and startups like Urban Organics, an aquaponics farm that grows
fish and vegetables in the former Hamm’s Brewery.
In welcoming the world to Minnesota, the opportunities include a
chance to “really brag about our state in a way that’s comfortable
for Minnesotans,” Ritchie said. “We’re not so good with the
megaphone and the bullhorn, but when we can invite people over
and then share with them who we are as a people,” we’re good
salespeople about our attributes and accomplishments.
When it comes to selecting a venue, there are a lot of excellent
potential sites, he said. The location “doesn’t need to be huge,” but
it does require “the right infrastructure for transportation.”
The process of vetting sites is part of an economic feasibility study
that is among preparatory phases.
Photo | Shaun Liboon
2. There are benefits for Minnesota even as the work plays out, Ritchie explains. Just
expressing interest “makes people’s heads turn, makes people pay attention to a
place or region.”
Raising our hand helps brand the region as globally minded, he said. The initiative
says “this must be a forward-looking, outward-looking place,” one at which it’s worth
taking a closer look.
Ritchie’s background includes work on trade policy issues before he became
secretary of state, where responsibilities include services for starting and registering
businesses. He won’t seek re-election this fall, and told us he’s both “old enough and
young enough to look at something that’s 10 years out and say, ‘I can make a
contribution,’ not specifically knowing what that might be.”
He has fond memories of attending the World’s Fair in New York in 1964. Many
people had the “magical experience,” of such events over the years, he told us. “Many
communities were transformed.”
But the nation eventually dropped out of the cycle of hosting World’s Fairs or expos.
“The fair has not been to the United States since 1984, when New Orleans hosted it,”
Fleming reported. “It has the dubious distinction of being the only World’s Fair to
declare bankruptcy during its run.”
Minnesota will need an eyes-wide-open evaluation of the benefits and the costs —
and the vision of corporate sponsors — but this big opportunity to tell our story to the
world is one well worth exploring. St. Paul and the east metro should stay close to the
process.
Read the original article at
http://bit.ly/MinnesotaExpo23PP