Wyoming’s manufacturing sector is weak, and its low population is slowing growth. That’s the finding of the Manufacturing and Logistics Report, a survey conducted annually by Ball State University in Indiana.

This year the survey gave Wyoming good marks for its tax climate and for its workers’ generally high level of education. But the state’s manufacturing grade was a D minus. Last year, it was a C minus.

“No matter how you slice the data Wyoming is a small state,” says Michael Hicks, an economics professor at Ball State and the study’s author.  “And manufacturing tends to look for labor markets that are thick enough to attract the kind of workers that they need.”

But that doesn't mean there aren’t any manufacturer’s that find the Cowboy State attractive.  

Hicks says that, looking forward, Wyoming may see growth in boutique manufacturing: companies that don’t need a large workforce, but can take advantage of the state’s low taxes and high quality workers.