Central Minnesota - Economy

Economy

The economy of central Minnesota, like that of the United States as a whole, has largely shifted from agriculture and mining to industry and service in recent years. Agriculture is still important in the region, however, especially in the southern and western part of the region, where the land and soil is conducive to growing crops such as corn and soybeans. Dairy farms also dot the region in areas where crops cannot easily be grown, but their numbers have been drastically dwindling in recent years. Paper companies also own expansive amounts of land in the heavily forested eastern and northern parts of the region, though the peak of logging activity has long passed. Paper production mills still continue to be operated, however, in the towns of Brainerd, Grand Rapids, and Sartell.

Tourism has become a very important industry in the region in the last few decades, fueled largely by the enormous amount of lakes in the area. Many of the region’s cities see their populations swell in the summer, when people from the larger metropolitan areas of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Duluth, Fargo, and Grand Forks come to enjoy fishing and other outdoor activities on the region’s lakes. The cluster of lakes around Brainerd, which have made the area known as the "Brainerd Lakes Area" are probably the most well known, thanks in part to the many residents of the Twin Cities who own cabins or land either on or near the area’s biggest lakes. In addition, several esteemed resorts are located on the area’s large Gull Lake.