News Room

SAINT PAUL – For the first time, data from the Minnesota Business Snapshot is viewable online at sos.mn.gov/snapshot for free. Using two new online tools, Minnesotans can search for an individual business by its location, community, and industry (Business Entities by Community and Industry) or access high-level information about businesses in the state (Survey Says). Each dataset is updated daily to provide fresh insights into Minnesota’s business community.

Since 2016, the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State has provided a voluntary online five-question survey - the Minnesota Business Snapshot - to all businesses during the registration and annual renewal process. In the questionnaire, business owners are asked about their company, the owners’ demographic information, the number of employees, and annual revenues.

To date, over 775,000 business owners have completed the survey, leading to a 68% response rate. Until now, data from the survey was only available by request, often at a cost.

“For nearly a decade, Minnesota businesses have been responding in large numbers to the Minnesota Business Snapshot and contributing a wealth of information,” said Secretary of State Steve Simon. “Researchers and business insiders understand the value of this information, which until now was only available upon request. With these new interactive report features, we’re making the responses more accessible so all Minnesotans can quickly view and understand data about businesses across the state.”

The Business Entities by Community and Industry report allows users to search for businesses based on various criteria, such as county/city, owner self-identification category, and industry type. This report is designed to help business owners identify potential partners, aid consumers in targeting their spending, and support educational institutions and researchers in understanding the state’s diverse business environment. For example, a user can search for all Aitkin County construction companies owned by veterans.

The Survey Says report pulls all survey data to provide a broad view of Minnesota’s business landscape, including information on employment, community representation, industry sectors, and revenue trends.

This report tells the story of the diverse business community in Minnesota. Since 2016, self-reported data from registered businesses has shown that more than 268,000 businesses are women-owned (34%), more than 101,000 businesses are owned by a member of a community of color (13%), more than 58,000 businesses are owned by a member of the immigrant community (7%), more than 42,000 businesses are owned by veterans (5%), and more than 18,000 businesses are owned by a member of the disability community (2%).

Further, the report shows the economic impact of businesses in the state with self-reporting since 2016 showing more than 101,000 businesses (17%) had an annual gross revenue of $50,000 - $250,0000, more than 49,000 businesses (8%) had an annual gross revenue of $250,000 - $1,000,000, and more than 48,000 business (8%) had an annual gross revenue of $1,000,001 or more.

The Minnesota Business Snapshot survey was developed with input from a wide range of stakeholders, including individual business owners, business organizations, non-profits, and researchers from across Minnesota.

For more information and to view the reports, please visit sos.mn.gov/snapshot.

Disclaimer: The information included in these reports is voluntarily provided by business entities when they register with the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS) or when they renew their business filing. Business entities are not required to provide this information. Only business entities that voluntarily provide this information and meet standardized address requirements are included in the report.

The OSS cannot guarantee accuracy of the data provided by business entities and is not liable for any erroneous information. This information is being provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement of any of the businesses included in the report. Data is updated daily.