Southwest Region: 2016 Manufacturing Highlights

With 31,618 jobs at 604 establishments, manufacturing is the largest industry in the 23-county Southwest Minnesota planning region, just ahead of health care and social assistance. It is the only region in the state where manufacturing is still the leading industry. Manufacturing accounts for 18 percent of total employment in Southwest, about 6.6 percent more concentrated than in the state as a whole, where 11.4 percent of total jobs are in manufacturing.

From 2010 to 2015, Southwest Minnesota gained 1,216 net new manufacturing jobs, a 4 percent increase. In fact, manufacturing accounted for just over 25 percent of the region’s total employment growth over the past 5 years, including a bump of just over 250 new jobs in the past year.

Click here for the complete article.