Job Market: A Snapshot
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EMPLOYER |
BUSINESS |
EMPLOYEES |
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1. Wash. Corrections Center |
Prison |
660 |
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2. Little Creek Casino |
Gaming |
611 |
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3. Shelton School District |
Education |
569 |
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4. Wal-Mart |
Retail |
500 |
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5. Mason General Hospital |
Health Care |
453 |
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6. Simpson Timber Co. |
Wood Products |
400 |
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7. Mason County |
Government |
360 |
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8. Taylor Shellfish |
Shellfish, seafood |
360 |
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9. Olympic Panel Products |
Wood Products |
350 |
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10. No. Mason School District |
Education |
284 |
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Despite its growing popularity as a tourist and vacation destination, the job sector numbers for Mason County show a much more diversified economy.
The government sector is the largest employer in Mason County, with 16 of the top 50 employers being governmental entities, and those same entities responsible for 2,890 county jobs in 2002.
The three largest employers in the county are governmental entities - Washington Corrections Center, with 660 employees; Shelton School District, with 569; and the Squaxin Island Indian Tribe’s Little Creek Casino, employing 611.
Though Mason General Hospital was fourth on the list with 453 employees, and six other health care related businesses made the top 50, overall it was the forest and wood products sector that ranked second largest behind government for number of jobs, with 1,178.
Simpson Timber Company was listed by the Economic Development Council of Mason County as the sixth largest single employer, with 400 individuals on payroll. Olympic Panel Products (which Simpson recently sold) ranked ninth on the list, with 350.
Wal-Mart made the Top 10 list, ranked at number four 500 employees); Taylor Shellfish Farms, with 360.
Census Bureau estimates for 1999 listed 1,026 non-farm businesses employing 8,532 people in the county. Of those businesses, 23.4 percent were woman-owned, compared to a 27.5 percent average for the state.