St. Paul-based Engineering Research Associates helped create the modern computer industry after WWII. It preceded an explosion of innovative companies in Minnesota. Their impact around the world provided our solid economic foundation after World War II. Much of the work done here was highly classified during the Cold War, so no one knew about it. Today, most Minnesotans look to Silicon Valley as the only home of innovation and are blissfully ignorant that the Bay Area was merely building basic components when our state was the epicenter of high tech. Local organizations want to correct this perception. The Lawshe Memorial Museum (part of the Dakota County Historical Society) and the Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota are repositories of the history of computer technology in Minnesota. Recently, the Minnesota High Tech Association, in alliance with Twin Cities Public Television, released a one-hour documentary that chronicles the history of Minnesota’s computer industry. It highlights Minnesota’s leading role in the industry and its status as the birthplace of the high-speed, large-scale electronic digital computer.