Barnesville is confident of it¹s ability to provide readily available, high quality labor to satisfy the current and future needs of new and expanding businesses.

• Captive employee pool; over 70% of Barnesville¹s population works in Fargo-Moorhead, in large part because few job opportunities exist right in Barnesville. While there are 1127 working age residents, there are only 472 jobs in the community.
• The demand for second income jobs within Barnesville drastically outweighs the supply
• Many students attend one of the four higher educational institutions in the Fargo-Moorhead area, Fergus Falls Community College, or the Wahpeton State School of Science; while living at home in the Barnesville area and are looking for job opportunities.

LABOR SURVEY
A 1998 Survey commissioned through an independent research firm showed that within a 30 mile radius of Barnesville (excluding Fargo-Moorhead) there are an estimated 8,348 residents interested in working for a new industry in Barnesville.

The study showed there is a pool of 1590 workers with the skills needed for manufacturing type positions. Eleven percent with exprience in structural/construction occupations, five percent in the benchwork/manufacturing/factory occupations, and three percent in the machine trades area. The study also showed that of those individuals who were looking for work or would consider a job with a new industry in Barnesville, over 17% would work for $7.50 an hour or less.

A complete copy of the Labor Survey is available upon request.