Contact:
Bill Rubin/Jacki Bradham
St. Croix EDC
715-381-4383
Economic Vitality of 3-County Area Displayed in Tables and Graphs
St. Croix Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and the UW-River Falls Center for Economic Research (CER) have released the inaugural St. Croix Valley Economic Dashboard. It is a compilation of statistical information about St. Croix, Polk, and Pierce counties presented in easy-to-read tables and graphs. It can be viewed on the CER’s website at http://www.uwrf.edu/cer.
The January 2011 Dashboard includes tables on each county’s workforce, total employment, unemployment rates, county sales tax distributions, new vehicle registration, 1- and 2-family building permits, median home prices, and the number of homes sold. State level and national indicators are also included in the Dashboard, along with selected interest rates such as the average bank prime rate published by the Federal Reserve and the average rate on 30-year, fixed rate mortgages.
Dr. Logan Kelly, director of the CER at UW-River Falls led the research for the Dashboard project. “The indicators were selected to give a snapshot of the economic condition of the labor, consumer and housing markets in the three county area. The dashboard presents the latest available data from a variety of sources in one convenient package,” said Dr. Kelly. “A white paper with detailed descriptions of each indicator is available at the CER website, http://www.uwrf.edu/cer,” Kelly added.
“The St. Croix Valley Economic Dashboard is displayed much like the dashboard on a vehicle,” said William Rubin, executive director of St. Croix EDC. “The tables are ‘quick looks’ of factors that influence the economy of the 3-county region,” he added. “An observer can conclude if the St. Croix Valley is moving forward or falling behind, based on green or red arrows that correspond to each table or graph.”
The St. Croix, Polk, and Pierce counties comprise Wisconsin’s St. Croix Valley. All three counties are located along the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. Two of the three counties, St. Croix and Pierce, are included in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metropolitan area, a 13-county region with a population of 3.25 million residents. Based on the upcoming 2010 census reports, Polk County could be included in the expanded designation of the Twin Cities metro area.
For additional information, contact Dr. Logan Kelly at cer@uwrf.edu or (715) 425-4993 or William Rubin at bill@stcroixedc.com or (715) 381-4383.
