In spite of these losses, Cotooli's economy has had a slight recovery over the last decade. According to the 1990 census, the unemployment rate in the Cotooli area is 5.0% although the city proper has a higher rate of 7.9%. There are several reasons for the area's lower unemployment rate. First, relative to other Midwest cities, Cotooli's economy was never dominated by one industry such as auto or steel. The machine tool industry, which suffered a serious decline during the 1970s, has--through mergers, downsizing, and reorganization--stabilized in recent years. Second, since the mid-1980s there have been aggressive efforts by state agencies to attract businesses to the county's outlying districts. Many of these firms, recruited from overseas, are highly automated factories in both process and product. Some of these plants are state-of-the-art machine tool producers taking advantage of the area's reputation as a machine tool manufacturing site. In addition to its small manufacturing base, the area north of Cotooli has historically been predominantly agricultural. While the culture of the area remains by and large rural, the role of agriculture in the economy is rapidly diminishing, being replaced by suburban housing and goods distribution associated with the nearby airport. The city located south of Cotooli has been redeveloped as a hotel, convention, and tourist center, increasing the demand for service workers in the area.
Cotooli's relative economic strength is based on several factors: a diverse manufacturing base, which includes the recruitment of foreign manufacturers locating facilities in the area; the development of its service economy, including the building of convention and hotel facilities and related service industries; the relocation of corporate headquarters to the area; and the expansion of the transportation industry which has attracted distribution centers and some white collar and technical jobs. Cotooli's economy is approximately twenty percent manufacturing; six percent transportation and public utilities; twenty-five percent wholesale and retail trade; six percent financial, insurance, and real estate; five percent construction; twenty-five percent services; and thirteen percent government employment.
The populations of the City of Cotooli and county in which it is located have declined over the last twenty years from 450,000 to 360,000 and 925,000 to 865,000, respectively. However the population in the greater Cotooli area increased by 130,710 between 1970 and 1990. The increase is a result mainly of the growth in the outlying counties both north and south of the city. According to the 1990 census, the median income in 1989 for the area was $29,500, higher than for the state as a whole (which was $28,706).
The University of Cotooli has three colleges which provide two-year associate degrees. A key component of the postsecondary education system is the co-op program which began in the early 1900s at the University of Cotooli as a means of integrating engineers into corporate culture as they received technical training. After World War II, the co-op system was extended into the postsecondary vocational institutions. The program combines classroom training with work experience as a requirement for the successful completion of the degree. Students are placed with employers who are expected to provide them with employment related to their area of study. This arrangement is designed to give students the opportunity to combine theory and practice and enrich the educational process. Some students are hired as permanent employers by these firms upon receiving their degrees.
In addition to the University of Cotooli's community colleges, area employers also recruit from community colleges north of the city and from the neighboring state.
In addition, the local high school district maintains four area vocational schools around Cotooli, which students attend full-time for two or three years, with half their time allotted to vocational courses. Since many employers have established co-op programs with these area vocational schools, we interviewed administrators associated with these institutions.