|
1
|
- A Foundation for Building
Workforce and Industry
- in Benton, Sherburne, Stearns,
and Wright Counties
|
|
2
|
- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Introduction
- Project History
- Report Terminology
- Report Focus & Scope
- Data and Trend Analysis
- 2008 Highlights & Findings
- Strategic Growth
- BACKGROUND
- What is the Community Assessment?
- Using the Community Assessment
- Data-to-Action in Collaboration
- Progress Made: 2002-2008
- WORKFORCE CAPACITY
- Population Growth
- Workforce Education
- College Graduate Retention
- Housing & Homelessness
- Health & Wellness
- Healthcare
- Childcare
- Transportation
- GROWTH & INNOVATION
- Managerial Resources
- Business Services
- Technology Jobs
- Patents
- Venture Capital
- Business Startups
- ECONOMIC VITALITY
- Wage Comparison
- Job Vacancies
- Unemployment Rate
- Industry Growth
- Industry Wages
- REFERENCES
- For more information
|
|
3
|
- Introduction
- Project History
- Report Terminology
- Report Focus and Scope
- Data and Trend Analysis
- 2008 Highlights and Findings
- Indicators of Workforce Capacity
- Indicators of Growth & Innovation
- Indicators of Economic Vitality
- Strategic Growth
- Average Wage in Strategic Industries
- Strategic Industry Jobs in Region
|
|
4
|
- The Community Assessment is a research report originally initiated by
the Stearns-Benton Employment & Training Council and the
Stearns-Benton Workforce Council of St. Cloud, Minnesota. The purpose of
the Assessment is to measure important indicators of the economic
condition in the Central Minnesota region.
- There is a larger collaborative effort in the region, headed by the
Partners for Strategic Growth, which uses results from the Community
Assessment to inform its work in community initiatives and investments.
While the Assessment is used as input to the larger effort, it is a
separate research project and does not address any specific initiatives
or their outcomes.
- At the time of this writing, year-end 2008, the nation is experiencing
an “economic crisis.” While the goal of this project is to assess
economic progress, it is not intended to be an immediate measure of
current conditions. Rather, it is a long-term project that looks at
trends over time.
|
|
5
|
- The baseline Community Assessment research (“community audit”) was
conducted and published in 2002.
- The original research process was extensive, with over 6 months of
collaboration, 2 surveys with nearly 200 leaders responding, 9 focus
groups, a survey of nearly 150 service providers and various secondary
sources. Much of the baseline research:
- Identified the indicators to be measured
- Categorized indicators into the groups of Workforce Capacity, Growth
& Innovation, and Economic Vitality
- Identified the “level” of analysis (industry and occupation)
- Defined what makes an industry “strategic” in this region
- Defined what makes an occupation “strategic” in this region
|
|
6
|
- Region: the four-county area of Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright
- Central Minnesota: used interchangeably with “region” and includes the
four-county area of Benton, Sherburne, Stearns, and Wright
- St. Cloud MSA: the metropolitan statistical area for the city of St.
Cloud and surrounding area as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau (used
when quality, comparable county-level data are unavailable) and includes
Benton and Stearns counties
- Benchmark Regions: 7 regions that are similar to this region either in
size, geography, or some other factor, identified by the steering
committee as comparable regions to St. Cloud for purposes of this report
- Indicators: measures of workforce health, identified during the 2002
community audit
|
|
7
|
- This 2008 Community Assessment is a revision of the 2002 Community
Assessment. The process for revising the report was to re-apply the
structure established in 2002 (indicator sets and data points) and
update the data to determine if trends could be identified. As such, it
was important that the data were comparable to the previous version.
- Of the 23 indicators included in the 2002 report, 19 had data available
to be included in this version. Indicators that are not included are
Business Expansions, Underemployment, Occupational Growth, and
Occupational Wages.
- In terms of regional scope, the original research focused on two central
Minnesota counties – Stearns and Benton. The 2008 report expands its
scope to also include the adjoining counties of Sherburne and Wright.
This offered some challenges in terms of balancing the need to include
trend and comparability to the 2002 report while also being inclusive to
a larger region.
- At the heart of this report is the progress identified in the “strategic
industries.” The final two indicators, Industry Wages and Industry
Growth, harness the extensive research efforts from 2002 and show data
aggregated for the 4-county area in those targeted industries.
|
|
8
|
- While the initial 2002 Community Assessment included primary research
methods, this revision uses available secondary sources. It is intended
that this report not be duplicative of other reports available in the
region such as the "Central Minnesota Regional Profile"
published by Minnesota DEED.
- For all indicators, efforts were made to find county-level data as well
as data that were comparable to findings in the 2002 Community
Assessment. In some cases, quality data at the county level were not
available. In other cases, the county data found were sourced
differently from regional, state, or national benchmarks, making them
vary widely in their results. In those cases, St. Cloud MSA data or
state data were used. (When cities are cited, it is the city’s MSA.)
- When trends are cited, the general date range is from 2002 to 2008, as
these are the report's publication dates. However, dates vary by source,
and are noted in all cases.
- In the “2002 Highlights & Findings” section to follow, trend arrows
are used to summarize the overall trend of an indictor when comparing
the more current data to the data summarized in the timeframe of the
2002 Community Assessment.
|
|
9
|
- Overall, there is some positive trend information to share, but changes
can take many years to achieve. The highlights are detailed on the next
few slides in these categories:
- Workforce Capacity: The “input”
to the economic system – what are the characteristics of the workforce
and how effective are support services?
- Growth & Innovation: The
system processes that drive expansion and productivity in the
workforce.
- Economic Vitality: Measures of
the “output” or end results of the economic system.
- Strategic Growth: An analysis of
growth in strategic industries, both in the number of jobs and in the
wages earned.
|
|
10
|
|
|
11
|
|
|
12
|
|
|
13
|
|
|
14
|
|
|
15
|
- What is the Community Assessment?
- Using the Community Assessment
- Data-to-Action in Collaboration
- Progress Made: 2002-2008
|
|
16
|
- In addition to establishing baseline indicators, the 2002 Community
Assessment also summarized perceptions of key leaders as a means of
targeting strategic growth.
- The detailed methodology of the community audit involved 6 months of
collaboration, and the rigor of the process showed the high level of
commitment and motivation of the team members.
- The project involved not only statistics and facts, but it surveyed many
people in various roles to better understand how people think about the
region and what values they hold for future investments.
|
|
17
|
|
|
18
|
|
|
19
|
|
|
20
|
- Population Growth
- Workforce Education
- College Graduate Retention
- Housing & Homelessness
- Health & Wellness
- Healthcare
- Childcare
- Transportation
|
|
21
|
|
|
22
|
|
|
23
|
|
|
24
|
|
|
25
|
|
|
26
|
|
|
27
|
|
|
28
|
|
|
29
|
|
|
30
|
|
|
31
|
|
|
32
|
|
|
33
|
- Managerial Resources
- Business Services
- Technology Jobs
- Patents
- Venture Capital
- Business Startups
|
|
34
|
|
|
35
|
|
|
36
|
|
|
37
|
|
|
38
|
|
|
39
|
|
|
40
|
|
|
41
|
- Wage Comparison
- Job Vacancies
- Unemployment Rate
- Industry Growth
- Industry Wages
|
|
42
|
|
|
43
|
|
|
44
|
|
|
45
|
|
|
46
|
|
|
47
|
|
|
48
|
|
|
49
|
|
|
50
|
|
|
51
|
|
Notes