Manufacturing has been expanding in the rural Great Plains, more rapidly than in the rest of the rural United States, but much of the expansion has been to larger, growing places and much has been in meat packing, which tends to hire low-skill workers—a group in relatively short supply in much of the region. Manufacturers in areas of substantial population loss report problems with finding labor and, even more often, with the attractiveness of the area to managers and professionals. The rural Great Plains seems particularly suited to advanced technology manufacturing, if the problem of attracting managers and professionals could be eased. Manufacturers in the region participate heavily in government programs, but no more so than in other rural regions. Those in areas of decline have tended to receive greater support.