Linking Norway to the North Star State
NorCham Minneapolis
Photo courtesy of Lisa Erickson
From left: Rikke Dierssen-Morice, Danish honorary consul; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; Lisa Erickson, president of NorCham Minneapolis; Christina Carleton, CEO and president of Norway House; and Britt Ardakani, director of business programs at Norway House, gather at Norway House for an event honoring a Danish energy-sector business delegation supported by NorCham Minneapolis.
Lisa Erickson regularly scours LinkedIn for Norwegian startups that might be a fit for Minneapolis and drops hints. The president of NorCham Minneapolis, who works as a career coach and headhunter, has over 19,500 followers on her LinkedIn profile, hopes to be an influencer.
Minneapolis has built-in advantages. Americans claiming Norwegian ancestry number over 810,000 in Minnesota, over 68,000 in Minneapolis-St. Paul (8.3%), part of more than 1.58 million people in Minnesota who consider themselves Scandinavian Americans (32.1% of the population). Norwegian businesses’ focus on New York and California is an obstacle all NorCham chapters share. How do you get them to land in Minneapolis?
“I link with them. send them a [direct message],” said Erickson. “Maybe, they’re taking a tour of the United States to find out who their customers are here. I encourage them to make Minneapolis one of their stops. They’re not only pleasantly surprised about the love and attention that they receive, but there’s always a great turnout.”
The Scandinavian imprint is evident. Themed stores selling wares, various ways to engage culturally, and a Norway House that serves as a hub for connections through arts, business, and culture.
“There’s a certain cachet to being involved with anything Scandinavian here in Minnesota,” said Erickson. “In general, those of Scandinavian descent have a reputation. They might’ve started out very humble. Within two generations, they became quite successful and prosperous, and well known for being generous of spirit and with time. I still find that today in native Norwegians, the hardworking, the ambition, the way that they’ll be willing to share what they’ve achieved.”
A major event is julebord, Christmas table, scheduled for Dec. 12.
“We’re committed to doing three events a year, and our main event every year is the julebord,” said Erickson. “We are hosting it this year at Norway House with Swedish American Chamber of Commerce. We put out a huge smorgasbord. Even though it’s a cultural dinner, it is still very much a business networking event.”
As for the business sell, there are 17 Fortune 500 companies in the state, most located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Brand names include United Health Group, Target, CHS, Best Buy, U.S. Bancorp, 3M, General Mills, C.H. Robinson, Land O’ Lakes, Ameriprise Financial, Ecolab, Xcel Energy, Hormel Foods, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Polaris, Securian Financial Group, and Fastenal.
According to mn.gov, the state ranks second for Best State for Economic Opportunity;third for Most Fortune 500 Companies per Capita; fourth in Infrastructure, and Best State in America. In less than a four-hour flight, you can connect with several major cities. Over 900 foreign-owned companies from about 40 countries have headquarters in Minnesota.
Retail, medical technology and other tech, agriculture, lumber, clean energy, and green technologies are Minneapolis’ strong suits. “Anyone in Norway who makes a physical product could sell it at Target or Best Buy stores,” said Erickson.
Heimdall Power is a Stavanger-based company that has developed a digital system that determines how much electricity needs to be transmitted. Great River Energy is “a nonprofit wholesale electric power cooperative in Maple Grove, Minn., providing reliable, cleaner electricity while maintaining affordable rates.” The two companies connected.
“In October, Heimdall Power closed another deal in Washington (Puget Sound Energy) that’s going to be huge,” said Erickson. “Their largest deal worldwide, was with Great River Energy (in March 2024). I don’t think that it was accidental that Heimdall landed their biggest assignment in Minnesota because when you bring Norwegian tech to Minnesota, doors open really fast.”
Erickson cited another Norwegian company, 24SevenOffice, now Finago, which designs customizable streamlining of a business’ accounting.
“[The business] 24SevenOffice and Heimdall Power are two Norwegian companies that came to Minnesota to find partners, customers, and investment that stand out to me as strong candidates to win,” said Erickson. “They’ve each found massive success. I’m still following their growth and cheering them on.”
NorCham benefits from a strong relationship with the governor’s office and media.
“Our government is very in tune,” said Eriksson. “Gov. [Tim] Walz has a great respect for Norway and the people, and he knows how hard they work. He’s been a great partner. He’ll come to our events, and he also makes it very clear that he’s welcoming to European companies that want to have a home base in Minnesota.
“Most important is our media tends to be very friendly to Scandinavian companies when they visit. I impress upon Norwegian companies they’re not going to be one of many competing for press. We can get them attention.”
Masud Gharahkhani, (Labor Party), president of Storting, Trond Helleland (Conservative Party), and Sverre Myrli (Labor Party) visited the United States, July 4-9, 2024. They were to be in Washington for a NATO Summit coinciding with the 75th anniversary of them organization. Before the summit, they visited Chicago, Decorah, Iowa, and Minneapolis to “promote business cooperation, cultural and knowledge exchange and gain insight into the American presidential election by meeting with Democratic and Republican state and national political leaders,” according to the Storting website. Erickson said they had three weeks’ notice and the Minnesota visit fell on Saturday, July 5, during the Independence Day
holiday. They pulled it off.
“He’s an impressive speaker, thinks quickly on his feet, is clearly very well-informed and represents Norway very well,” said Erickson. “His entourage were great, too. We had an opening gala party with 40 people, and we created a business panel. We had an unbelievable turnout. The Norwegian government were great partners on that. This was a wonderful way for us to kick off our first event for our [NorCham] chapter.”
Though the chapter didn’t have formal involvement in the business summit in Minneapolis, Oct. 7-8, and New York, Oct. 9, “we still benefited greatly being the host city,” said Erickson.
She was unable to attend the NorCham Presidents Council meeting in Chicago, Sept. 28-29, but she is excited about the group.
“All my fellow presidents, I am so impressed by them,” said Erickson. “They’re hardworking, good people. I have learned so much from them, and I want them to continue to help me pronounce Norwegian words and names correctly.”
Erickson’s heritage and professional experience give her the foundation for her role as president. She grew up in St. Paul. Three of her mother’s grandparents were Norwegian, the fourth was Swedish. Her father is of Norwegian descent. Her mother’s relatives still live on the family farm outside Rorøs, Norway.
“I’ve visited them [at the farm] many times,” she said. “I grew up going to family reunions and hearing all about the home country. Our reunions were huge.”
Erickson spent 10 years on the board of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, then founded a pan-European networking event, Euro Connect.
“I’ve been hosting that now for 15 years, about 20 events,” she said. “I find that that’s a great opportunity to bring all the Europeans in. But then I also get to showcase anything Swedish or Norwegian.”
Her skills as a career coach and headhunter are helpful in her presidential role.
“So much of the functionality of any chamber goes right back to your ability to recruit new members and your ability to encourage everyone to see the value in it,” she said.
This article originally appeared in the December 2025 issue of The Norwegian American.
