State ranked one of top five.
Iowa’s Manufacturing Climate Remains Top-Notch
Iowa earned a top grade again for the health of its manufacturing industry in a 2016 study by Conexus Indiana. The Hawkeye State received an A for the eighth straight year.
In the 2016 study, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and South Carolina were the only other states to get an A.
The grades take into consideration each state’s manufacturing employment per capita, share of income earned by manufacturing employees, and wage premium paid to manufacturing workers.
Iowa manufacturing—which consists of 6,040 firms—makes up an impressive 18 percent of the state GDP and contributed $31.2 billion to Iowa’s economy in 2014, according to a recent study from Iowa State University.
Because manufacturing firms don’t rely on local demand, the Conexus report points out, business owners pick locations primarily based on the quality and availability of the labor force, transit infrastructure, non-wage labor cost, access to innovative technology, and the cost of doing business.
While Iowa’s manufacturing climate remains hot, its tax climate leaves much to be desired. The state earned a D- in the report for that category, the same grade as last year. Iowa also earned a D in global reach, down from a C last year.
But Iowa received B’s in the categories of logistics industry health, human capital, and expected fiscal liability gap.
