One has to appreciate Google when it comes to business.
When you Google “Mankato, Minnesota + business” you’re supposedly getting things that are the most searched for terms about Mankato business. Some of the results are surprising while others answer questions for people moving to the area, like: How much snow do we get?
The first few search items are from the Greater Mankato Growth (greatermankato.com) website and include a Mankato business directory and a list of Mankato’s top employers. As of 2022, Taylor Corp. continued to be the top employer with 2,200 employees, but it was followed closely by Mayo Clinic Health System at 1,871. Minnesota State University was third at 1,600.
There was a considerable drop off in the number of employees for fourth place Mankato Clinic at 751. Gustavus Adolphus College came in at 580, and Blue Earth County came in at 475, Kato Engineering at 434 and Walmart Distribution Center at 420. Johnson Outdoors was next at 360 and MRCI at 316.
So out of the top 10 employers, five were either government or nonprofits. Out of 9,019 total employees in the top 10, almost 5,000 worked for either government or a nonprofit.
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development data reflect the same trend overall for regional employment and wages. All government employment makes up 15% of the workforce in Blue Earth and Nicollet counties. But with government wages — think college professors, St. Peter regional treatment facility guards and counselors — higher than private sector wages, government wages make up 22% of all wages in the two counties.
This data comes into play when politicians call for cutting government. While one can argue about the extent government should be employing people, the facts suggest government cuts would hurt Mankato more than most places as it has a high percentage of jobs and wages related to government.
The next thing that comes up on a Google search is a list of best places to work, a list compiled by a company called Zippia. The company says it “hand curated a list of companies to work for headquartered in and around the Mankato area using data on salaries, company financial health and employee diversity.”
That list puts Capstone Press as the No. 1 best company to work for, Hubbard Feeds as No. 2 and Monarch Healthcare as No. 3.
And Google searches then offer other things or questions people ask about Mankato including: “What is Mankato famous for.”
The answer to that comes from the city of Mankato’s website: “The City of Mankato is renowned for great parks and trails. Rivers, lakes, ravines, bluffs, natural prairies and forested areas offer breathtaking landscapes and provide a scenic backdrop for an area steeped in historic significance.”
And then Google gets to the really important question: “How much snow does Mankato get?”
And the answer: “Mankato, Minnesota gets 32 inches of rain, on average, per year. The U.S. average is 38 inches of rain per year. Mankato averages 43 inches of snow per year. The U.S. average is 28 inches of snow per year.”
Yes, we can agree Google has too much power and can control searches in marketing and elsewhere, but we take Google searches for granted these days. Back in the gumshoe reporting days, this kind of information would have taken a couple hours to look up at the library.
Joe Spear is executive editor of Minnesota Valley Business Journal. Contact him at jspear@mankatofreepress.com or 344-6382. Follow on Twitter @jfspear.