Minnesota Made

After nearly three years of bad news in almost every industry, it's almost counterintuitive to hear that manufacturing in Minnesota is doing better. But there are signs of hope, at least for some companies. And while the same problems still trouble the industry, there's at least some good news about the state of manufacturing here. ¶ Some of that good news comes from manufacturing executives, who greeted 2010 with more optimism than they had the previous year. Enterprise Minnesota, a nonprofit consulting firm for manufacturers headquartered in Minneapolis, conducts a State of Manufacturing survey each year, and the most recent survey found that 44 percent expected their gross revenues to increase in 2010. A similar proportion, 45 percent, expected wages to increase over the next two years.

That's good news for the state of Minnesota, says Bob Kill, president of Enterprise Minnesota. "In 2010, there was growth—not dynamic growth, but growth—and a high percentage of manufacturers are adding workers and posting more revenues," Kill says. "But health care costs and tight credit are still concerns."

Whither Manufacturing?
There are about 8,000 manufacturers in Minnesota, and most of them have fewer than 50 employees.

Manufacturing makes up a sizable component of the state's economy, Kill explains. "Manufacturing accounts for 15 percent of jobs and 18 percent of payroll in the state, and there are one and a half to two supporting jobs for every manufacturing job," he says.

But manufacturing was in decline even before it took a hard hit during the financial crisis. There were nearly 400,000 manufacturing jobs in the state in 2000, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. But in 2009, there were just over 300,000. Nearly 35,000 of those jobs were lost between 2008 and 2010.