Spirit Lake, Spencer named Top Micropolitans of 2013

Spirit Lake and Spencer, Iowa have recently been named on the 2013 Top Micropolitans (by number of projects) list by Site Selection magazine. Spirit Lake is tied at 41^st place with three projects, while Spencer is tied at 70^th with two projects.

The US Census Bureau designates a micropolitan area as a non-urban community anchored by a town of at least 10,000 but no more than 50,000 people. According to the Census Bureau, there are 576 micropolitan areas in the country.

Expansions in Spirit Lake/Dickinson County included Rembrandt Enterprises’ corporate offices, Polaris Industries (Milford expansion) and Brownmed. The expansions of Shine Bros. Corporation and the new TJN Enterprises facilities rounded out the list for Spencer. These five projects combined will result in over 140 new jobs and $22 million of new investment for the communities.

“These are all great projects – four expansions of existing industries and one new location for the Corridor region,” said Kathy Evert, president and CEO of the Iowa Lakes Corridor region. “They are each a great testament to the quality of life, quality of the workforce and the positive business environment possible throughout all of the Corridor region. We thank the communities and everyone who helped make these projects happen in the region.”

Site Selection named the state of Iowa #6 in the Governor’s Cup per capita rankings, a list of states with the highest number of qualified capital investment projects in the previous calendar year. Texas and Nebraska tied for first place.

Among the top 10 states with the most micropolitans, Iowa ranks sixth, tying with Kentucky at 7 micros a piece. According to Conway Data, Inc., Iowa edged out New York, Alabama, Minnesota and many others. Ohio tops the list with 15.

For the full article by Site Selection magazine, click here. You can also contact the Corridor for additional information at 712.264.3474.