Minnesota Job Market (Minneapolis, Duluth, Rochester: homes, college, live)

[Bhaalspawn]

I lived in the Twin Cities for two years many moons ago while working on a graduate degree and I fell in love with the city and the state. I even hooked up with a girl from Minneapolis and married her :-).

Now we're giving serious consideration to moving back to Minnesota if my current Detroit area job were to suddenly vaporize. Although I'm hoping to open up a solo professional services business, I figure that I would also need a full-time job or at least a good part-time job while I worked on getting established.

So, how are the Minnesota job market and the economy doing? What is the outlook for future economic growth?

What is the job market like for people with college degrees working outside of their fields of study? (I'm interested in entry-level jobs that require college degrees.)

How are the blue collar and service job markets?

Has the state experienced job growth in the chemical and biotech sectors? (I also have a chemistry degree, but it's employment value, if any, has gone stale.)

More specifically, how are the economies and job markets in the Twin Cities, Rochester, St. Cloud, and Duluth?

Are there any under-the-radar up-and-coming small and medium-sized cities that are experiencing rapid middle class popluation growth for various reasons (aka, opportunity for a new business)?

[Bhaalspawn]

No one wants to discuss this?

<bump>

[Robert P Stewart]

I'll take this up.

Minnesota has a consistently strong biotech area. Although is it more agrarian than anything else. You have the big players up here like Medtronic and the like, but there are a fair number of 'homespun' small to mid sized companies who do a variety of things from validation to lab standardization to diagnostics. How do I know? I help these people relocate.

As for your 4 year degree, I've helped tons of people move here for work (in some cases helping them make introductions to their future employer). Many times these folks are getting jobs out of their degree field. The most common degrees for this are biology, chemistry, and physics. I think it's because although the 4 year degree has questionable use, it says that you're a smart cookie and have something on the ball. Companies like that.

Overall, the job market has stayed the same or maybe even decreased a little. I don't think the same is true with biotech and the like. You may want to start your job search at U of M, and then use that to make your connections up here. Just a thought.

Robert