**search our site** home > publications****Issues in Rural ManufacturingResults of the ERS Rural Manufacturing Survey
**Issues in Rural Manufacturing: Results of the ERS Rural Manufacturing Survey**. Contacts: David A. McGranahan and H. Frederick Gale.  Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 736.About the SurveyThe ERS Rural Manufacturing Survey is a nationwide study of local factors affecting the ability of manufacturers to compete in today's increasingly international economy. Telephone interviews were conducted with 2,844 rural and 1,065 urban establishments with 10 or more employees. Questions focused on technology adoption, worker skills and training, access to outside expertise, sources of capital for expansion and modernization, and government program participation. The survey is unique in the breadth of its concerns, its focus on local relations, and the size of its rural sample.
The survey was designed by ERS with input from representatives of industry and the academic research community. The Social and Economic Sciences Research Center at Washington State University conducted the actual survey. The overall response rate for the survey was 69 percent.About the SeriesThe survey results are being published in a series of eight-page issue briefs,  written under the premise that awareness and understanding of the problems facing manufacturers will improve both public and private decisionmaking. While the reports may be read separately, each builds on the others so that the entire series should provide a comprehensive view of rural manufacturers and their problems and concerns.
**Keywords:** ERS Rural Manufacturing Survey, rural/urban businesses, manufacturing technology, rural/urban jobs
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**NOTE:** Since this series was published, author phone numbers may have become outdated.  Please disregard the authors' phone numbers and contact them via e-mail. If there is no listing, that author is no longer with ERS; however, you can locate an information specialist to help you.
Contents
- **Is There A Rural-Urban Technology Gap?**  by  H. Frederick Gale , August 1997; 121 kb
- **Rural and Urban Manufacturing Workers: Similar Problems, Similar Challenges**  by  Ruy Teixeira , January 1998; 99 kb
- **Local Problems Facing Manufacturers**  by  David McGranahan , April 1998; 100 kb
- **Who Benefits From Business Assistance Programs?**  by Elizabeth Greenberg and  Rick Reeder , September 1998; 76 kb
Other ERS research articles that use data from the Rural Manufacturing Survey- Rural Conditions and Trends    - Advanced Technology    Means Better Pay and Benefits for Workers
  - Manufacturing    Employers Report Widespread Problems with Labor Quality
  - Manufacturing Sector    in Black Counties Weakens in Era of New Technology
  - Most Jobs Created by    Exports Are in Medium- and High-Skill Occupations
  - Most Value-Added    Firms Have Access to Needed Capital
  - Value-Added    Manufacturing Has Strong Local Linkages  *Rural Development Perspectives*- Can Manufacturing    Reverse Rural Great Plains Depopulation?
- Rural Manufacturers    in the Export Market

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