Southwest/South Central Minnesota Manufacturing Industry Factsheet

The manufacturing sector has endured a significant cutback over the last two years, but is still the largest employing industry in Southwest and South Central Minnesota. With 31,282 covered jobs at 628 business establishments, manu-facturing represented 18.2 percent of all regional jobs in 2009, keeping it just ahead of health care and social assistance (29,994 jobs) in total employment. Just over 10.4 percent of the states manufacturing jobs were located in the 23-county region, as compared to 6.7 percent of total employment across all industries.
Southwest Minnesota

Regional manufacturers paid out just over $1.2 billion in total payroll to employees in 2009, providing average annual wages of $38,584. That was $6,000 higher than the average for all industries ($32,188). Table 1 lists manufacturing industries in the region, recent growth trends, and average weekly wages.
Table 1. Manufacturing Industries in Southwest/South Central Minnesota
Average Employmen t 2009 Percent Change, 2007-2009 Numeric Change, 2007-2009 Average Weekly Wage 2009

Industry

Manufacturing Food Manufacturing Printing & Related Support Activities Machinery Manufacturing Computer & Electronic Product Mfg. Electrical Equipment & Appliances Mfg. Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing Plastics & Rubber Products Manufacturing Wood Product Manufacturing Chemical Manufacturing Transportation Equipment Manufacturing Primary Metal Manufacturing Miscellaneous Manufacturing Furniture & Related Product Manufacturing Beverage & Tobacco Product Mfg.
Source: DEED, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages

31,282 10,320 4,730 3,603 2,244 1,927 1,759 984 924 917 893 857 577 576 553 246

-9.9% 3.5% -16.0% -7.9% -21.9% -3.0% -6.9% -13.7% -6.5% -19.6% -14.1% -40.4% -27.7% -23.0% -18.8% 1.7%

-3,418 349 -899 -308 -630 -59 -131 -156 -64 -224 -146 -581 -221 -172 -128 4

$742 $723 $672 $770 $775 $884 $742 $818 $783 $620 $921 $795 $832 $677 $553 $706

Southwest/South Central Minnesota Manufacturing Industry Factsheet : July 2010 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development : Analysis and Evaluation Office

Between 2007 and 2009, regional manufacturing employment fell nearly 10 percent (-3,418 jobs). The decline can be attributed to various factors including the 2007 recession, increased productivity, globalization, and shifts in consumer demand. Just two of the largest manufacturing specialties in the region gained jobs over the last two years: food manufacturing and beverage and tobacco product manufacturing. The other 13 specialties saw job declines ranging from 3 percent in electrical equipment and appliances manufacturing to 40 percent in transportation equipment manufacturing. Despite the declines, the region also maintained a large concentration in printing and related activities, machinery manufacturing, and chemical manufacturing. Statistics from the Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey demonstrate how hiring has fallen off since the start of the recession, as shown in Figure 1. Between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2009, the number of job vacancies available at the regions manufacturers dropped from 728 to 184, a nearly 75 percent drop. The number of manufacturing vacancies had consistently ranged between 700 and 800 from 2003 to 2007 before sinking to 500 in 2008 and less than 200 in 2009. Manufacturings share of total job vacancies fell as well, dropping to just 8 percent of total vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Even though manufacturing hiring will rebound some after the recession, the overall manufacturing sector is not expected to add net new jobs in the future. In fact, total manufacturing employment levels are projected to decline 7.5 percent statewide between 2009 and 2019. However, some manufacturing specialties including those that are concentrated in the region are still projected to add jobs, and there will still be hiring demand for many production jobs even if there is little or no net new job growth because some workers will retire or leave their occupations. The following tables list specialties and
Southwest/South Central Minnesota Manufacturing Industry Factsheet : July 2010 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development : Analysis and Evaluation Office

occupations expected to have the fastest growth and the largest numbers of job openings in the state from 2009 to 2019.
Table 2. Projected Fastest Growing Manufacturing Specialties in Minnesota
Estimated Employmen t 2009 Projected Employmen t 2019 Percent Change 2009 to 2019 Numeric Change 2009 to 2019

Occupation

Manufacturing Household & Institutional Furniture Manufacturing Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing Pharmaceutical & Medicine Manufacturing Basic Chemical Manufacturing Medical Equipment & Supplies Manufacturing Other Electrical Equipment & Components Mfg. Electronic Instrument Manufacturing Resin, Rubber, & Synthetic Fibers Mfg. Veneer & Engineered Wood Products Mfg. Other Food Manufacturing
Source: DEED, Employment Projections 2009-2019

300,198 5,896 6,508 3,453 1,164 15,793 1,832 25,385 356 1,434 5,002

277,762 7,256 8,000 4,100 1,349 18,100 2,024 28,000 389 1,559 5,379

-7.5% 23.1% 22.9% 18.7% 15.9% 14.6% 10.5% 10.3% 9.3% 8.7% 7.5%

-22,436 1,360 1,492 647 185 2,307 192 2,615 33 125 377

Food manufacturing the largest industry in the region is expected to hold steady over the next decade, while printing and related support activities the regions second largest manufacturing specialty is projected to decline nearly 11 percent from 2009 to 2019. Machinery manufacturing, fabricated metal product manufacturing, and computer and electronic product manufacturing are all projected to decline between 10 and 15 percent. In contrast, the region will likely see gains in basic chemical manufacturing, wood products manufacturing, and other miscellaneous manufacturing. As the manufacturing industry changes, demand for jobs will change as well. Many manufacturing occupations will see fewer openings and projected declines, with openings due to retirements and people leaving their jobs. In contrast, some other manufacturing occupations will see an increase in demand due to the changing technology and increased productivity. Table 3 shows some of the manufacturing-related occupations that are expected to grow the fastest in the state from 2006 to 2016, ranging from assemblers to supervisors.
Table 3. Projected Fastest Growing Manufacturing-related Jobs in Southwest Minnesota
Percent Change in Employmen t 2006 to 2016 Numeric Change in Employmen t 2006 to 2016 Replacemen t Openings 2006 to 2016 Total Openings 2006 to 2016

Occupation

Separating, Filtering, & Clarifying Machine Operators Printing Machine Operators Food Roasting, Baking, & Drying Machine Operators Industrial Machinery Mechanics Industrial Engineers Food Batchmakers Plant & Systems Operators

32.3% 17.7% 15.9% 14.4% 14.3% 10.6% 9.3%

64 160 13 120 38 32 63

45 200 30 139 64 77 141

109 360 43 259 102 109 204

Southwest/South Central Minnesota Manufacturing Industry Factsheet : July 2010 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development : Analysis and Evaluation Office

Electrical Engineers Stationary Engineers & Boiler Operators Job Printers Supervisors, Transportation & Material Moving Industrial Engineering Technicians Maintenance & Repair Workers, General Paper Goods Machine Setters Bakers Cutting & Slicing Machine Setters Assemblers & Fabricators, All Other Meat, Poultry, & Fish Cutters & Trimmers Mixing & Blending Machine Setters Machinists

7.3% 6.8% 6.2% 6.1% 5.2% 4.9% 4.6% 3.6% 3.1% 2.8% 2.4% 2.3% 1.3%

9 10 17 42 11 64 19 7 16 19 8 5 7

29 25 26 140 41 32 100 41 77 139 107 35 83

38 35 43 182 52 96 119 48 93 158 115 40 90

Source: DEED, Employment Projections 2006-2016 NOTE: Net replacement openings is an estimate of the need for new work force entrants to replace workers who leave an occupation. Total job openings represent the sum of employment increases and net replacements.

Southwest/South Central Minnesota Manufacturing Industry Factsheet : July 2010 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development : Analysis and Evaluation Office