Commentary: Minnesota's Fortune 500 corporations finally speak out about ICE, but not loudly enough

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Here are a couple of points about the business community of Minnesota you may not have known.First, it’s home to a surprisingly large cadre of 17 major corporations, members of Fortune’s roster of the 500 largest U.S.

companies.Some of America’s best-known consumer companies, including UnitedHealth Group, Target, Best Buy, 3M and General Mills have chosen the windy, cold and snowy — but heretofore tranquil — state for their headquarters.To get all 60 of the major CEOs to sign onto a statement was a remarkable feat.— Bill George, former Minnesota corporate executiveSecond, this collection of elite businesses largely has been silent about the federal government’s assault on the people of Minneapolis, which has been going on since the beginning of December.

The silence ended Sunday, when 60 Minnesota businesses issued a joint statement through the state Chamber of Commerce calling for “an immediate deescalation of tensions.”That so many businesses came together for the statement was an achievement, given the customary reluctance of corporate leaders to address incendiary political issues.But in terms of its actual content, the statement was pretty thin gruel, bristling with public relations-style circumlocution and vagueness.Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner.

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy.If anything, the Minnesota statement underscores the quandary facing American corporations in the Age of Trump, when the president viciously and publicly attacks anyone he deems to be a personal adversary.

For a business, that can translate into a threat to the top and bottom lines.Business leaders faced with a choice between going along with Trump, or poking him with a stick, almost invariably have chosen the first path.

That Minnesota’s businesses even went as far as they did does suggests the tide...