Businesses Continue Getting Larger in North Dakota

Businesses are continuing to get larger in North Dakota, according to the recent "Population Bulletin" released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University.

For the past nine years, the number of business establishments in the state has risen 0.8 percent per year on average and the number of employees for these businesses has risen 3 percent per year on average. Put another way, in 1990 there were 10.4 employees per business compared with 12.3 in 1998. The number of very large establishments, those that employ more than 1,000 employees, more than doubled since 1990 jumping from 4 to 9. Similarly, the number of establishments that employ between 250 and 1,000 employees increased from 54 in 1990 to 72 in 1998.

"The growth in larger establishments mirrors the increased consolidation of our population," said Richard Rathge, director of the Center. "A business establishment represents a single physical location, therefore most of these large business establishments are located in the state’s largest cities or in close approximation to those cities. A continued challenge for the state is to increase the number of mid-sized firms in the state’s smaller communities. Hopefully, with the expansion of the information age, this will become a reality."

The number of business establishments in North Dakota declined slightly between 1997 and 1998, from 20,439 establishments in 1997 to 20,288 in 1998. Employees in North Dakota businesses increased from 242,047 in 1997 to 249,476 in 1998, an increase of 7,429 employees or 3.1 percent. Annual payroll for businesses in North Dakota rose from $5.1 billion in 1997 to $5.5 billion in 1998, an increase of $398 million or 7.8 percent.

In 1998, service and retail trade establishments comprised more than half (60.4 percent) of all businesses in North Dakota (65.3 percent of all employees). Note: Due to a change in industry codes, 1997 industry data are not available in a comparable format.

Nevada, Delaware, Utah and Colorado reported the largest percentage gains in businesses between 1997 and 1998 (5.36 percent, 2.80 percent, 2.71 percent and 2.30 percent). In addition to North Dakota, four other states reported losses in businesses between 1997 and 1998 (Connecticut, Louisiana, Ohio and Indiana).

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Source: Richard Rathge (701) 231-8621
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629

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