“I can’t overstate the importance of the Itasca Project leadership on the transportation issue,” said Chris Coleman, the mayor of St. Paul. “There’s no question it changed the trajectory of the debate.”

While the case for better infrastructure is straightforward, other Itasca initiatives will take much longer to show concrete results. One major focus of the group is income inequality, as well as the high dropout and unemployment rates among minorities.

The gap between the refined atmosphere at the McKinsey aerie and the problems in local neighborhoods can be awkward even for people with the best of intentions. In fact, while Itasca leaders talk up the importance of diversity, minorities are conspicuously absent from the Working Team. (They are much better represented within the larger Itasca membership.)

Social issues may be less amenable to business-sector solutions than crumbling roads and bridges, but that has not stopped Itasca from pushing for McKinsey-style benchmarks to measure the performance of local public schools.

The group is also spearheading a new effort to better equip the state’s two- and four-year college systems to produce graduates with the skills that today’s employers need.

“The research they’ve done on education and hiring has really influenced my agenda,” said Betsy Hodges, the mayor of Minneapolis. “It puts wind in our sails to know that the business community thinks these issues are important.”

As might be expected from boosters whose job it is to promote economic growth and talk up the Twin Cities’ appeal, many Itasca participants express confidence that their project could be replicated elsewhere. Mr. Campbell, though, is less sure.

“My answer is maybe,” he said. “There’s a unique willingness to trust each other here. It’s kind of in our blood.”