The fabricated metals industry in Iowa is a major durable goods industry which produced $1.68 billion in GDP in 2013 and accounted for 5 percent of manufacturing GDP. The sector employed 20,611 persons, or around 9.5 percent of the state's manufacturing workforce. This technical study profiles the industry's structural and economic characteristics. This study was done for the Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) at Iowa State University.

The following information was obtained from the American Communities Survey portion of the U.S. Census Bureau web‐site. The data chosen were items that profiled characteristics of all Iowans, Blacks, and Hispanics as they may relate to their participation in the Iowa economy. Those data are not available for other Iowa minority populations as the survey numbers were too small to generate statistical confidence in the findings. In other reports, covering different periods of time, we note that, for example there are strong differences among Iowa’s minority groups in terms of the kinds of jobs that they do, the industries within which they work, and their likelihoods of self‐employment. It is important, therefore, to not over‐generalize the information in this brief to be indicative of all minorities. This report is a summary of aggregate characteristics of Blacks and Hispanics as they compare to all Iowans.

There is much to learn about the participation of the nation’s minority populations in the U.S. economy and in Iowa. In Iowa, the preponderance of net population growth during the current decade has been due to minority population increases.

This report is a straightforward comparison of the economic participation characteristics of white only and minority persons residing in Iowa at the time of the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS). Hispanics or others that are considered part of the nation’s minority populations are classified as minorities in this study. The white only population is actually, therefore, white and not Hispanic. The Census Bureau samples a substantial fraction of the U.S. and state populations in preparing their annual estimates of the U.S. population. Those data are available as the Public‐Use Micro‐Sample (PUMS) for regions within states (called PUMS regions), states, and for the nation. This report assesses the PUMS one‐percent sample for the state of Iowa for 2006: that means that we are using a sample of the population to infer to the characteristics of all Iowans.

Iowa State University contributes significantly to the state’s economy. This study isolates the economic impacts of the university as an Iowa educational, scientific, service, cultural, and recreational center. This study also measures the economic impact value of ISU student spending in central Iowa.

This report investigates degrees of water dependence across various sectors of Iowa’s economy and the possible direct and indirect consequences of drought events on Iowa’s industries. The report is organized into five sections. Part 1 describes patterns of water use by broad economic sector, as measured in gallons of water withdrawn from surface and groundwater sources. Part 2 addresses the importance of water as a means of transportation, examining the types of commodities shipped to and from Iowa by river. Part 3 discusses the consequences of drought on grain and livestock production. Part 4 explores how reductions in agricultural commodity production might impact the state’s manufacturing sector. Part 5 indentifies industries that may experience changing demand for their own products due to water supply disruptions, including firms that manufacture inputs for water distribution, treatment, or storage systems.

Every five years the U.S. Department of Commerce conducts a Survey of Business Owners. Those data are eventually made available to policy makers and scholars on a scheduled basis. Most of the 2002 data were not released until 2006 – hence there is at least a three year lag in the data. The 2007 survey will yield data, then, by 2011. We are therefore required to look at the 2002 data to determine the major characteristics of minority business activity in Iowa. In this brief report we are looking at selected national and Iowa characteristics.

For a variety of pertinent political, social, economic, and community reasons, there is a strong demand for information about the nation’s immigrant populations. Much of the concern is about unauthorized persons living and working in the U.S. There, too, is vigorous discussion within our business communities about the need for more liberal and inclusive immigration programs that allows the U.S. to attract and keep more of the world’s scientific, engineering, medical, and other highly educated professions. Immigration policy and immigration issues mean different things to different interests in different places of the economy and the country.

This report is a straightforward comparison of the economic participation characteristics of native‐born and foreign‐born persons residing in Iowa at the time of the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS). The Census Bureau samples a substantial fraction of the U.S. and state populations in preparing their annual estimates of the U.S. population. Those data are available as the Public‐Use Micro‐Sample (PUMS) for regions within states (called PUMS regions), states, and for the nation. This report assesses the PUMS one‐percent sample for the state of Iowa for 2006: that means that we are using a sample of the population to infer to the characteristics of all Iowans.

Estimates from the 2006 American Community Survey show home ownership rates for various racial and ethnic groups in Iowa. The table below measures the percentage of households living in owner‐ occupied housing units by the race or ethnicity of the householder. Iowa’s Black population had a home ownership that was nearly half as low as that for Iowa’s white, non‐Hispanic population. Asian and Hispanic rates were also substantially lower.

Iowa’s minority population represents 9.4 percent of the state’s population as a whole. This statistic understates the degree of racial and ethnic diversity in many geographic areas within the state and overstates diversity levels in others. An analysis of the racial and ethnic composition of the state’s 793 census tracts in 2000 revealed the following patterns.

Between 2000 and 2007, 727 or 75 percent of the state’s cities posted net population declines. From 2006 to 2007, city populations grew by 14,800 persons, and that growth was shared by 374 communities.