Category

Strengths (S)

Weaknesses (W)

Opportunities (O)

Threats (T)

Ease of Doing Business

Exceptional Tax Climate: Ranked as the state with the second-best tax climate in the nation, with no personal or corporate income tax. Top for Startups: Ranked as the #1 best state for starting a business (2025) due to high access to capital and a strong business survival rate.

Infrastructure/Workforce Gaps: Poor performance in national business rankings for infrastructure, workforce availability, and technology/innovation (received "F" grades in these categories).

Targeted Sector Growth: Strategic plan focuses on growth in high-value sectors like Bioscience, Financial Services, and Value-Added Agriculture, leveraging the state's existing strengths.

Talent Migration: Low scores in quality of life and technology may lead to a continuous outflow of young, skilled workers, hindering efforts to diversify the economy beyond traditional sectors.

Domestic Manufacturing

Sector Resilience: Manufacturing employment remains stable and contributes a significant portion of the economy, with over 45,000 employees. Value-Added Agriculture: Strong emphasis on processing and adding value to agricultural products (e.g., pig meat, soybean meal).

Lagging Manufacturing Exports: Manufacturing exports have historically lagged behind the agricultural sector, indicating a need for greater global market penetration.

Strategic Investment: Recent state investments are targeting growth in energy and manufacturing projects (e.g., LNG processing, fire equipment manufacturing), creating new high-value jobs.

Tariff and Trade Instability: As a major exporter of agricultural and related products, the manufacturing sector (especially value-added ag) is exposed to the risk of international tariffs and trade barriers.

Sustainability Initiatives

Renewable Energy Potential: Strong policy and advocacy efforts for expanding wind, solar, and biofuel projects; one of the leading states for wind energy generation. Active Solar Development: Increasing utility-scale and community solar installations, including projects focused on affordable housing (e.g., Camden Heights Solar Project).

Limited Utility-Scale Solar: As of late 2025, the state has a relatively small number of utility-scale solar farms, suggesting an underdeveloped solar capacity compared to its wind sector.

Federal Funding Access: Access to federal programs like the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program to upgrade and procure new, clean, affordable energy for rural electric cooperatives.

Dependence on Weather: Over-reliance on intermittent renewable sources like wind, which requires robust, expensive grid infrastructure and storage technologies to ensure energy reliability.

Balance of Trade

Significant Trade Surplus: Maintained a substantial trade surplus ($6.7 billion in exports vs. $1.7 billion in imports) largely driven by agricultural and related exports. High Small Business Contribution: The majority (83%) of the state's exports come from small businesses, demonstrating a broad-based exporting economy.

Extreme Export Concentration: Trade is heavily concentrated in the agricultural sector (e.g., grains, animal products), making the total export value highly susceptible to commodity price swings.

Market Diversification: State's trade strategy includes efforts to build relationships and secure sales in new, high-growth markets like East Asia and Africa.

Commodity Price Volatility: The value of its primary exports (agricultural goods) is subject to extreme global commodity price volatility, which can quickly erode the state's strong trade surplus.