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Measuring Cedar Valley's Economic Stability

posted on Monday, May 13, 2019 in Economic Development

Lisa River Skubal, CEcD

Written by Lisa Rivera Skubal CEcD, VP of Economic Development

There are many ways to measure the economy. Grow Cedar Valley recently came across some additional data while updating the 2019 Cedar Valley Fact Sheet that we want to share.

The Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area ranks 86 out of 382 metros for industry diversity according to the latest data aggregated based off U.S. Census Bureau and US Health Department.  

Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa MSA

The Waterloo/Cedar Falls' MSA industry diversity is 77.7%.  It's no surprise that capital-intensive manufacturing and engineering-intensive manufacturing significantly outpace other MSAs; very few MSAs can speak to having high ranks in both clusters.   The Cedar Valley TechWorks planning team is working hard on how they can impact the next generation of manufacturing in the Cedar Valley and in State of Iowa.  Stay tuned.

Healthcare and Education outpace a typical metro MSA thanks to the robust healthcare systems we enjoy and the forward-thinking of PreK-12, higher education, and regionally based Leader Valley/Leader In Me initiatives.

Thanks to having a strong farming community we naturally outpace a typical MSA in this industry cluster.

A region with high diversity can signal economic stability and more easily withstand economic pressures.  This means that employment is distributed more evenly amongst 12 industry clusters compared to a typical Metro MSA as illustrated below. 

Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa MSA

The work Grow Cedar Valley does in collaboration with public and private partners is to contribute to a diversified business base.   We thank all these partners for their contribution. 

This long-term work and collaboration continue.

For more information contact VP of Economic Development, Lisa Rivera Skubal or call 319/232-1156.