Moving to Southern Minnesota (St. Paul, Mankato: salon, to buy, tax)

[Arles]

I'm glad that you like the idea of Clear Lake. Based on your employment requirements, the location seems ideal. Mason City (a few minutes down the road) is a manufacturing and healthcare hub.

From Wikipedia:

The largest employer is Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. Other major industry includes door manufacturer Curries/Graham Company, Woodhardbor Cabinetry Manufacturers, Principal Financial, Cargill Kitchen Solutions and the Kraft Foods plant that produces the nation's entire supply of refrigerated ready-to-eat Jell-O gelatin and Jell-O pudding snacks. Mason City is also a major production center for Portland Cement. In November 2007, Reyes Holding / Martin-Brower opened a distribution facility serving McDonald in 5 states.

Originally Posted by B&N

Arles...I didn't consider Iowa...but love that idea too. Thanks for the suggestions of Clear Lake...it sounds lovely. I will look into it more.

[mn shutterbug]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Marshall is just under 2 hours from Mankato-the mall area anyway. Along with Schwan's they have Southwest MN State, the hospital, US Bank and several other companies. Unemployment rate there is basically nothing.

No unemployment? Tell that to the dozens upon dozens of past employees of Schwans. Just a couple months ago another 5 dozen were let go. I'll bet they've laid off around 200 employees in the last couple years. Godfather's Pizza closed last week which means a few more unemployed.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by mn shutterbug

No unemployment? Tell that to the dozens upon dozens of past employees of Schwans. Just a couple months ago another 5 dozen were let go. I'll bet they've laid off around 200 employees in the last couple years. Godfather's Pizza closed last week which means a few more unemployed.

The unemployment rate in Marshall is still around 2%. At that rate they consider everyone "employed". The lay-offs at Schwan's were fundamentally sound. You also failed to recognize the fair number of new jobs in town over the past few years. Didn't a Pizza Ranch just open as well as several other stores, etc. Godfather's is closing because Lockwoods is expanding and needs their land back.

[mn shutterbug]

I'm not challenging you, but am just wondering where you find employment statistics for individual towns. Yeah, Pizza Ranch opened and Forever Sarah is closing, which wasn't really much of an employer. I've also heard rumors of a Taco Bell coming. However, restaurants and stores really aren't the "big" employers around here. I just know that Schwan's cutbacks have probably affected the town more than anything. I also understand the schools have had some layoffs, part of which surprises me about the 2% rate.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by mn shutterbug

I'm not challenging you, but am just wondering where you find employment statistics for individual towns. Yeah, Pizza Ranch opened and Forever Sarah is closing, which wasn't really much of an employer. I've also heard rumors of a Taco Bell coming. However, restaurants and stores really aren't the "big" employers around here. I just know that Schwan's cutbacks have probably affected the town more than anything. I also understand the schools have had some layoffs, part of which surprises me about the 2% rate.

The unemployment rate is tied to the number of people looking for work, not really the number out of work and not looking. Many of the Schwan's layoffs, in the beginning anyway, were people that didn't really "live" in Marshall. Yes, there have been some recent cutting of "fat" there, but again, it was needed in many cases. Schools everywhere are laying off staff but a lot of the cuts at the school were handled by early retirement packages so there were not that many layoffs. Schwan's is still hiring, the hospital is still hiring, the college is still hiring, US Bank is hiring. All of these companies have a hard time getting enough employees in many positions actually but when you have 6 junior Vice Presidents doing nothing but reporting to each other, it's time to trim...legacy of a former President of the company more than anything .

[mn shutterbug]

That is true, re: many commuters that work(ed) for Schwans. It's just that I personally know a few local people recently laid off that are having a tough time finding a full time job with benefits.

But, back to the original question. Where do you find current unemployment rates for individual towns?

[wildchild]

Hutch
Be careful, unemployment is VERY high thanks to HTI and now Best Buy is even closing their store there. Jobs in Hutch are few and far between.

Marshall
Schwans drives the economy. That being said, are you sold that a company's backbone of driving around delivering frozen food is going to work today? It was great 10-20 years ago but come on, delivering frozen foods door to door in 2012? I don't see how this business model can work today or in the future. I don't care if their trucks run on propane or not, it's an outdated business model.

Also, Marshall has no 4 lane highways which usually = no real population growth. If you care about population growth check the census numbers.

New Ulm
An older population but a pretty town in the river valley. Again, highways suck but HWY 14 is very slowly being expanded between New Ulm and North Mankato. Not a ton of jobs in New Ulm, mostly manufacturing jobs which are not sure things anymore.

St. Peter
Might be a decent option. It's smaller, growing but nothing rapid and only 15 minutes from Mankato.

Just my $.02

[golfgal]

Schwan's is a lot more diverse than it's route sales. They have many retail brands as well as institutional food division that is the largest in the nation.

I think you need to go to Marshall and look around--I'm pretty sure there is a 4 lane highway that runs through Marshall...growth there has been slow and steady, the best way to grow.

[mn shutterbug]

Yep, Marshall has 4 lane highways. Whoopee! I really don't see the growth. Sure, new businesses are starting up, with older businesses closing down. Marshall can't even support a decent mall. The anchors at the mall are offices on one end and a clinic on the other with an alternative learning school in the middle. At one time the mall boasted over 60 retail stores. I doubt there are a dozen left.

You better have a lot of German in your blood if you move to New Ulm and want to eventually fit in.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by mn shutterbug

Yep, Marshall has 4 lane highways. Whoopee! I really don't see the growth. Sure, new businesses are starting up, with older businesses closing down. Marshall can't even support a decent mall. The anchors at the mall are offices on one end and a clinic on the other with an alternative learning school in the middle. At one time the mall boasted over 60 retail stores. I doubt there are a dozen left.

You better have a lot of German in your blood if you move to New Ulm and want to eventually fit in.

The mall is a write off for the owners. The owners of that space have jacked up the rent so high it isn't possible to keep retailers. They do that on purpose. The town could easily support the mall, if the owners of that space didn't want to lose money on the property....