In a recent NPR story, the tariff spotlight turns to DigiKey, a major electronics distributor headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The piece explores how proposed U.S. tariffs could have outsized effects not just on global supply chains, but also on the economic lifeblood of this rural community, where DigiKey is both a major employer and a symbol of American tech innovation far from Silicon Valley.

DigiKey gets products from manufacturers with elaborate supply chains. They might fabricate silicon for semiconductors in the U.S. but ship the wafers to China to be assembled, tested and packaged. Things might make a pit stop in Malaysia or Taiwan. At U.S. Customs, the supplier gets the tariff bill — and, often, sends it along to DigiKey.

The article highlights how a tariff aimed at foreign suppliers could squeeze domestic innovators, especially in communities where one company can have a significant impact. How might they fare in all this uncertainty?

“Imagine you’re in a football game and it’s blizzard-like conditions,” Wichert says, summarizing it. “The winner of the game is the one who can manage through the conditions the best. Right now, we’re in blizzard-like conditions.”

The way Lorenson sees it: If anyone is used to weathering blizzards, it’s northern Minnesotans.

Read the full story here.