ASSESSING THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF NEW OR RECENTLY EXPANDED MANUFACTURING AND EXPORTABLE SERVICE FIRMS IN NORTH DAKOTA

This study examines the economic impacts that have resulted from new or recently expanded North Dakota firms in three sectors (agricultural processing, other manufacturing, and exportable services), addressing such dimensions as number of jobs created, compensation paid to employees, and the expenditures made to entities within the local area and elsewhere in the state. Information was obtained from a questionnaire completed by 42 new or recently expanded firms. The responding firms had added an average of 29 jobs from 1990 to 1996. General labor was the job category accounting for the largest number of workers overall (52 percent), followed by skilled labor (16 percent) and management (12 percent). About 65 percent of the firms' new jobs have been filled with workers hired from the local area. The percentages of workers hired locally were highest in the skilled labor, management, and clerical job categories and lowest in the machinist/welder, engineering, and sales job categories. Average levels of compensation reported by the firms surveyed were similar to those reported by Job Service of North Dakota in a recent statewide study. The firms' annual expenditures within North Dakota averaged about $47,000 per worker, of which about 91 percent represented payments to individuals and entities within the local region. Expenditures within North Dakota per worker ranged from $40,391 for exportable services firms to $52,034 for manufacturing firms (other than agricultural processing).