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At least one segment of Iowa employment is booming. The growth has been fantastic in this decade. From 2000 to 2006 – the most recent numbers available – the state gained 64,546 jobs in “nonfarm proprietors employment.”

So what does that tell us about the Iowa economy? Any job is better than no job, but Iowa State University economist Dave Swenson points out that not all jobs are equally valuable.

Interviewed in ISU’s Center for Industrial Research and Service newsletter, Swenson said of nonfarm proprietor employment: “The problem is that these are low-income jobs in comparison to national averages. Iowa’s wage and salary rate is roughly 80 percent of the national average. Nonfarm proprietors’ incomes are at about 63 percent, a decline from over 80 percent in 1990. There are counties in Iowa where nonfarm proprietor incomes stand at just 30 percent of the national average.

“It’s important to note that these are nonfarm proprietors by necessity. They’re people who are fixing cars or opening day-care centers to supplement their earnings.”

It’s a vital reminder about the need to look beyond raw statistics when assessing our situation. A state filled with garage-based, one-employee businesses will never have the attraction, leverage and growth potential of a state with a nice assortment of growing, cutting-edge companies in diverse industries.

Not surprisingly, farm proprietors led the list of Iowa’s job declines. But “information” was second, followed by electrical equipment and appliance manufacturing, retail trade and telecommunications.

This is not the path Iowa needs to be on, folks.

It’s easy to forget about such changes if you work in Greater Des Moines, where growth was strong until the recession kicked in. We saw new companies, new buildings, new jobs everywhere we looked.

Out in the smaller communities, however, quaint Main Streets and high school sports aren’t enough for the long run. The whole state is in this race together.