Midwest Memo: Friday, May 6, 2011
Employers added 244,000 jobs in April, the third straight month of gains higher than 200,000 jobs overall. Still, the unemployment rate inched up to 9 percent.
Motorola Mobility is getting $100 million from Illinois to keep its headquarters in state. Photo by Tom Magliery via Flickr.
Motorola Mobility has decided to keep its headquarters in Libertyville, Illinois. The company had been thinking about moving to California or Texas, near other high-profile tech companies. But Illinois has been working hard to keep the company in state, giving Motorola Mobility a financial package worth $100 million over ten years to stay.
Today is Fair Trade Day in Chicago. You can track Chicago’s progress as a fair trade city through this website.
New lakefront plans in Cleveland might be under way. Constant Aviation, a company based at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, is considering using one of the hangars at Burke Lakefront Airport.
The Ohio House of Representatives passed a new two year state budget last night, though the Republican backed plan didn’t go over so well with some Democrats in the House.
Recent improvements in the auto industry have led to automakers climbing (back) up the Fortune 500 ladder. GM jumped from 15th to 8th, Chrysler is No. 59, and Ford dropped slightly from the No. 8 spot to No.10. Also thanks to improvements in the auto sector, German auto supplier Bosch plans to hire 1,000 new employees in North America this year. The company’s headquarters for North and South America is in Farmington Hills, MI.
Rising jet fuel prices are causing Delta to offer buyouts and voluntary early retirements to some of its employees. The airline company said it has to downsize in order to keep up with the rising cost of jet fuel.
Concert goers listen to a performer at the Water Hills Music Festival in Ann Arbor. Photo by Mark Brush/Michigan Radio.
And in this week’s “Happy Friday!” segment, Michigan Radio profiled the Water Hill Music Festival in Ann Arbor, in which neighbors play music on their front porches and back yards.