Small businesses play an integral role in Minnesota’s rural communities. Firms with less than 100 employees account for nearly 47% of rural Minnesota’s workforce according to Census Bureau data. Many of these businesses provide critical community services. These businesses also provide communities with economic independence and add to the vibrancy and uniqueness of places. Despite these varied benefits, rural main streets are being hollowed out.
The share of workers at small firms is down from 68% in the late 1970s. Since 1998 the number of small businesses in rural Minnesota has been declining. While there have been recent signs that trend is starting to turn, Minnesota’s rural communities still had 1,300 fewer small businesses in 2023 compared to 1998. This shrinking of local businesses in rural communities comes at a time of extreme and accelerating consolidation. The economy has grown 50% more consolidated since 2005, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
In response to these concerning trends, Minnesota Farmers Union Foundation (MFUF) began convening Small Business Roundtables across Minnesota in 2025 and throughout 2026. These meetings have brought together small groups of independent business owners, lenders, economic development professionals, farmers, and community partners. The goal of these discussions has been to learn more about the ways in which corporate consolidation and anticompetitive conduct are impacting locally owned businesses, along with other challenges that might be facing Main Street.
While MFUF’s efforts to convene small business across Minnesota continues, we have released an interim report detailing the key themes that have come out from the first seven of these roundtables in Elko, Fergus Falls, Little Falls, New London, St. Cloud, Rochester, and Winona. In these conversations with businesses across industries including agriculture, pharmacy, manufacturing, banking, grocery, retail, and tourism MFUF found:
- Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct Are Affecting Independent Businesses Across Industries.
- Independent Businesses Provide Essential Community Services.
- Business Succession Is an Increasing Concern.
- The Erosion of Local Ownership is a Shared Challenge.
In each of these discussions small business owners have described how Minnesota’s monopoly crisis is limiting the opportunities for small companies to succeed and thrive, which in turn harms rural residents. A range of issues including anticompetitive business practices, rising costs, industry consolidation, limited supplier competition and vertical integration were identified as presenting critical barriers to the success of Main Street businesses.
MFUF will continue to convene small business owners and community partners in 2026 and beyond to learn more about the challenges consolidation and anticompetitive conduct are creating. Following the conclusion of those additional roundtables, MFUF will publish a final report with more detailed findings and research on these issues.
Since its founding in 1918, Minnesota Farmers Union has advocated for a fairer and more democratic economy that supports farmers, small businesses, workers, consumers and communities. The Antimonopoly Program seeks to connect the impact of this growing concentration across the economy and elevate the voices of those directly impacted by these challenges. Read more from the Antimonopoly program here.