All economies have an economic base that includes the businesses that export products and services and in return receive a flow of money. Other sectors of the economy like retail trade and personal services redistribute the income received by workers in basic industries. 

Government is the largest exporting sector of the Parkland regional economy. This is very unusual. Government is rarely classified as a basic industry because it normally provides services to workers and businesses. The two prisons, state hospital and state parks provide services to a large population of consumers outside the region and are considered exporting industries. 

Natural resource industries like mining and agriculture are almost always exporting industries. The mining sector is the second largest exporting sector with $926 million in sales and agriculture (crop and animal production) is fifth with $297 million in sales. These sectors combined are responsible for 26% of export sales. 

Manufacturing is the sector of the economy that is most often associated with the economic base of a place. In the Parkland REDI region, the manufacturing industries have export sales of $758 million (16% of the total). Transportation and warehousing is the other primary exporting industry in the region with $325 million in sales (6.8% of total). These five sectors are responsible for 74% of all export sales.