Indeed, for the ninth year Minnesota made the "A Honor Roll" on the 2004 Development Report Card for the States prepared by the Corporation for Enterprise Development. 

From the source:

For the ninth year Minnesota earns an A in Performance. With As in Earnings & Job Quality, Equity, and Quality of Life, Minnesota is moving along nicely in this index. The measures that earned top 10 rankings are employer health coverage (2nd), working poor (3rd), poverty rate (2nd), income distribution (5th), rural/urban disparity (5th), homeownership rate (2nd), death from heart diseases (4th), and voting rate (2nd). Rounding out the index are a B in Resources Efficiency and a C in Employment (C). The latter saw downward shifts in long-term employment growth (8th to 12th) and short-term employment growth (20th to 38th).

Minnesota returns a B in Business Vitality this year. Competitiveness of Existing Businesses dropped from an A to a B, due largely to a relative drop in business closings (4th to 30th). Entrepreneurial Energy remained steady (B) with slight improvements in new companies (38th to 34th), and changes in new companies (6th to 9th). Job growth from new businesses (18th) and technology jobs (19th) indicate that Minnesota is on the right track when it comes to developing entrepreneurship.

Minnesota maintains an A in Development Capacity. The North Star State should take pride in its above average grades in Human resources (A), Financial Resources (B), Infrastructure Resources (A), Amenity Resources & Natural Capital (B), and Innovation Assets (A). Minnesota saw improvement in highway deficiency (44th to 13th), electronic public services (37th to 27th), private research and development (13th to 7th), air quality (17th to 1st), and SBIC grants (23rd to 19th). Tempering this good news, though, are the state’s returns in venture capital investments (10th to 16th), loans to small business (26th to 42nd), and loss of cropland (32nd to 37th).

Corporation for Enterprise Development
Economic benchmarks for decisionmakers
2004 Development Report Card for the States: Minnesota