The presence of such industry powerhouses as Polaris, Arctic Cat and New Flyer make Northwest Minnesota a hub of transportation equipment manufacturing.
From wheat and potatoes to soybeans and sugar beets, the region is a major producer and processor of food staples and specialty agricultural products.
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7/7/2021 9:00:00 AM
Erik White
Educational Services is a key industry in the Northwest region, with a greater concentration of employees in this industry than the state as a whole. The impacts of the pandemic on this industry varied by industry subsector and by type of government entity that is the employer.
Location quotients are one technique to determine a region's economic specialties. An analytical statistic that measures a region's industrial specialization relative to a larger geographic unit, a location quotient (LQ) can show us how concentrated an industry is in a particular area. When looking at Educational Services employment across the state, Northwest Minnesota stands head and shoulders above the rest with a location quotient of 1.24. A score greater than 1.0 indicates an industry that is more concentrated in the region than it is for the state (see Table 1).
| Northwest Minnesota | 1.24 |
| Southwest Minnesota | 1.11 |
| Central Minnesota | 1.07 |
| Northeast Minnesota | 1.06 |
| Southeast Minnesota | 0.99 |
| Seven County Twin Cities Metro | 0.97 |
| Source: DEED's Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) | |
DEED's Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data tool shows that the vast majority of employment in the Educational Services industry is in government not the private sector. At the local government level, which primarily includes Elementary and Secondary Schools, there are 272 establishments that employ 15,741 people, or 75% of all employment in the sector, with an average annual wage of $46,332. Next, there are 17 state government Educational Services establishments in the region with 3,067 jobs, primarily at colleges and universities. Average annual wages were $64,324 for this ownership group because wages typically are higher for professors than they are for teachers. Private Educational Services – which includes charter schools at the elementary and secondary level, private colleges, and fine art schools, among other specialties – employs 2,240 people in the region, but average annual wages are over $12,000 less than they are for Educational Services as a whole (Table 2).
| Ownership | Number of Employees | Number of Establishments | Total Wages | Avg. Annual Wage | 2019-2020 Change in Jobs | 2015-2020 Change in Jobs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |||||
| Total, All Ownerships | 21,048 | 384 | $1,000,151,769 | $47,840 | -1,635 | -7.2% | -405 | -1.9% |
| Total Government | 18,808 | 289 | $921,659,481 | $49,296 | -1,241 | -6.2% | -523 | -2.7% |
| State Government | 3,067 | 17 | $196,811,951 | $64,324 | -65 | -2.1% | -276 | -8.3% |
| Local Government | 15,741 | 272 | $724,847,530 | $46,332 | -1,175 | -6.9% | -246 | -1.5% |
| Private | 2,240 | 95 | $78,492,288 | $35,360 | -394 | -15.0% | +118 | +5.6% |
| Source: DEED's Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) | ||||||||
This detailed data becomes more clear because QCEW also categorizes the Educational Services industry through North American Industry Classification System or NAICS code. At the 4-digit level, Elementary and Secondary Schools make up the lion's share of employment with 15,853 jobs. As noted above, the state government ownership corresponds with the 4-digit (6113) Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools code and they both have about 3,000 employed and higher average annual wages. Other Schools and Instruction, such as Fine Arts Schools, Sports and Recreation Instruction, and Language Schools, have 47 firms in the region and offer 676 jobs, primarily in the private sector. Finally, Educational Support Services is the highest paying subsector but has the smallest number of jobs in the region. This includes educational consultants, educational testing services, and career and vocational counseling services.
| 2020 Annual Average | 2019-2020 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAICS Code | Industry Title | Number of Employees | Number of Establishments | Avg. Annual Wage | Numeric Change | Percent Change |
| 61 | Educational Services | 21,048 | 384 | $47,840 | -1,635 | -7.2% |
| 6111 | Elementary & Secondary Schools | 15,853 | 291 | $45,448 | -994 | -5.9% |
| 6113 | Colleges, Universities, & Professional Schools | 2,923 | 12 | $56,888 | -286 | -8.9% |
| 6114 | Business Schools & Computer & Mgmt. Training | 14 | 4 | $28,808 | -1 | -6.7% |
| 6116 | Other Schools & Instruction | 676 | 47 | $25,896 | -271 | -28.6% |
| 6117 | Educational Support Services | 367 | 13 | $67,600 | -25 | -6.4% |
| Source: DEED's Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) | ||||||
However you classify the Educational Services industry, the overall trend is that this sector was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as annual average employment in 2020 dropped by 7.2% with the loss of 1,635 jobs compared to 2019 annual averages. Elementary and Secondary Schools experienced the greatest drop in jobs, with nearly 1,000 lost in the region, while Other Schools and Instruction lost more than a quarter of its employment with a 271 job decrease over the year. Even Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools were not immune to job losses with a nearly 9% reduction in employment corresponding with the loss of 286 jobs.
The effects of COVID-19 have been wide-ranging on the Educational Services industry and hopefully a return to normal can be found this upcoming school year for this vital industry in Northwest Minnesota.
Contact Erik White.
