More than 15% of workers at Intek Plastics in Hastings are foreign-born, most of them Hmong and Karen.

Intek remains committed to diversifying its labor force because, like other Minnesota employers, it has had such a hard time recruiting in the state’s historically tight job market of the past decade, said Reeanna Crownhart, Intek’s human resources specialist.

Crownhart was at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Workforce Summit on Wednesday, where there were talks and sessions on immigration as the organization released its latest study on the state’s immigrant population and labor force.

International migration accounted for 94% of Minnesota’s net population growth during the last four years, the study found.

“Slowing population growth is impacting [the state’s] near-term economic and budget outlook,” Sean O’Neil, the Minnesota Chamber’s economic development and research director, told about 170 business owners, executives and human resource professionals at the Brooklyn Park event. “So immigration has become increasingly important to Minnesota in recent years as the state faces underlying demographic changes that are slowing its population and labor force.”

The jump in foreign-born residents is being seen in workplaces statewide, the study found. Minnesota has gained 113,000 immigrant workers since 2010, with 22,500 of them joining the workforce since 2019.

Minnesota’s total immigrant population is comparatively low, standing at 8.6% compared to the national rate of 14.3%. Among immigrants, undocumented residents have declined over the decade and now account for less than 2% of the population, the study found.

The chamber has tracked immigrant work trends for 16 years and also found there’s a shift of employment for Minnesota’s foreign-born population.