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Minnesota Now with Nina Moini
Cathy Wurzer and Chris Farrell

Minnesota small business report: Thief River Falls

A strip of downtown
MPR's Senior Economics Contributor Chris Farrell visited Thief River Falls in northwest Minnesota on Jan. 23, there to spend time at Digi-Key, the five billion dollar global electronics distributor, headquartered in town. But he also wanted to explore those small businesses that keep the downtown alive.
Mathew Holding Eagle III | MPR News

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Small businesses are critical to the health of local communities. Perhaps that is especially true in rural areas where many main streets struggle to stay in business.

MPR News’ Senior Economics Contributor Chris Farrell knows that well. And over the next few months, he'll join us to talk about the small businesses that power Minnesota.

Farrell recently visited Thief River Falls in northwest Minnesota. He was there to spend time at Digi-Key, the five billion dollar global electronics distributor, headquartered in town. But he also wanted to explore those small businesses that keep the downtown alive.

He took a walk and ducked into a store called Tonnabells and met with owner Kelly Tygersen. He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation. 

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.