When Digi-Key started flexing its muscles in the European market, I thought how in the world do they run a global business supply chain from a small town in northern Minnesota (just about 100 miles from the Canadian border)?
It doesn't matter if an engineer is buying from Telford, Tokyo or Tuscaloosa it all gets shipped from Thief River Falls.
So Thief River Falls (Pop: 8,410 according the last census) is the smallest town in the USA served by a daily UPS flight.
Getting
to Thief River Falls is a small epic for Europeans at least - a flight
to Minneapolis-St.Paul and then a puddle jumper plane to Thief River
Falls via one significant Minnesotan town called Hibbing.
Why significant? Because Hibbing is the birthplace of Bob Dylan.
Which I guess even though it hasn't got a Digi-Key may enable Hibbing to cock a snook at its Minnesotan neighbour.
Footnote: Yes,
US-based readers of this blog I know Roger Maris, ace baseball home run hitter,
and Kevin McHale, Hall of Fame basketball player were also born in Hibbing.
Probably not quite so well known around the world though.
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