April 23, 2012 | 12:00 PM | By Micki Maynard

On Wednesday, Join Us For “Hidden Assets,” A Call-In Show And Live Chat on Immigration

Throughout the past two years, Changing Gears has looked at the role that newcomers play in the Midwest. On Wednesday, we’ll be talking about them — and talking with you. 

Join us at 3 pm ET/2 pm CT for “Hidden Assets,” a call-in show airing on WBEZ Chicago, Michigan Radio and ideastream Cleveland. We’ll also be holding a live chat here at ChangingGears.info.

WBEZ’s Steve Edwards will host with a variety of scheduled guests, including Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder. They’ll be looking at ways the Midwest is trying to attract immigrants, and how they can be a competitive business advantage for our region.

“Hidden Assets” welcomes your participation, on the air and here.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Innovation, Jobs, Politics, Hidden Assets, immigration
April 23, 2012 | 8:12 AM | By Dustin Dwyer

Midwest Memo: Mining Marijuana, A Gubernatorial Spat And To Export, Or Not To Export?

Underground marijuana farm The Detroit Free Press was granted “exclusive access” to a former mine in the Upper Peninsula where one company wants to grow enough medical marijuana to serve 131,000 Michigan residents. The marijuana would be grown a mile underground.

Whose economy is better? The Chicago Sun-Times tries to settle a debate between Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The two governors traded insults last week over which state is doing a better job of attracting businesses. The Sun-Times says Illinois is the winner on most points.

Peaceful place Nine Nobel Peace Prize winners will be in Chicago this week for the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Natural gas Crain’s Cleveland Business considers the possibilities for exporting liquid natural gas made in Ohio. Exporting the fuel could lead to higher prices in the U.S., but those prices would help Ohio’s booming natural gas industry.

The Palisades problem NPR looks at the spotty safety record at the Palisades nuclear plant in Southwest Michigan. The story is reported by Lindsey Smith, of partner station Michigan Radio.

 

FILED UNDER: Midwest Memo, liquid natural gas, marijuana, medical marijuana, natural gas, Nobel, Nobel Peace Prize, nuclear, Palisades, Pat Quinn, Scott Walker, World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates
April 22, 2012 | 5:29 PM | By Meg Cramer

Where Did Everybody Go? – A Changing Gears Special

Former Detroiter Alex Ozark on the Hyundai-Kia proving grounds in California / Credit: Charla Bear

Many of us have friends or family members that have moved away from the Midwest.

In the Changing Gears special “Where Did Everybody Go?” we’re talking with some of those people who have moved out of the region – asking them why they left, what they found, and if they’ll ever come back.

We also take a look at what their departure means for the region.

You can listen to some of those stories here.

Part I: What’s So Great About Austin? Plenty, According To Former Midwesterners

Part II: The Appeal Of Portland

Part III: Detroit Coney Dogs On The Sunset Strip

Part IV: A Generation Moves Off The Farm

You can listen to the hour long Changing Gears special “Where Did Everybody Go” Sunday, 9 pm ET, on Michigan Radio; Monday, 10 am CT, on WBEZ Chicago; or Tuesday, 8 pm, on ideastream Cleveland.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Innovation, Jobs, Your Story, Ann Arbor, Austin, auto industry, Changing Gears, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, jobs, Los Angeles, manufacturing, Michigan, Midwest economy, Midwest Migration, New York, Ohio, Portland, Public Insight Network, United Auto Workers, Where Did Everybody Go, Your Story
April 20, 2012 | 8:30 PM | By Changing Gears

Feagler & Friends: Northeast Ohio Works to Diversify

Northeast Ohio is no longer the home of giant smoke-belching factories that typified the Industrial Revolution. The economy is slowly but surely striking out in new directions as the region works to diversify. Medical devices and services, polymers, processed foods, even fracking, are all in the vanguard of long-term change. Mr. Feagler looks at the big picture with Thomas A. Waltermire, President and CEO of Team NEO.

FILED UNDER: Industry
April 20, 2012 | 12:00 PM | By Meg Cramer

Midwest Migration: Detroit Coney Dogs On The Sunset Strip

Alex Ozark on the Hyundai-Kia proving grounds / Credit: Charla Bear

No city has been more affected by Midwestern out-migration than Detroit.

Based on the latest census numbers, the city is losing about 2 people every hour.

Changing Gears has been talking with some of those people who are leaving our region.

Alex Ozark grew up in Detroit. He always wanted to work in the auto industry, but he’s not doing it with the Big Three. He’s doing it in California.

Charla Bear brings us this report:

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Alex Ozark drives like a maniac in his company’s cars, treating a black SUV like a cross between a tank and a sports car.

“So we’ll do, we’ll do a hot lap.”

He deliberately hits potholes, runs over lane dividers, and takes corners really fast. So fast, I have a death grip on the grab handle.
Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Communities, Jobs, Your Story, auto industry, Detroit, engineers, General Motors, Hyundai, jobs, Kia, Los Angeles, Michigan, Midwest Migration, Public Insight Network, United Auto Workers, Where Did Everybody Go, Your Story
April 20, 2012 | 10:52 AM | By Micki Maynard

On Earth Day, Turning The Motor City Into Cycle City

Let’s face it: Detroit’s reputation as the Motor City is unshakeable. But it’s gaining ground as a city for cyclists.

Racing enthusiasts have revived a velodrome, cycle clubs are growing, it’s easy to find a bike tour and tourism officials took journalists on a ride around Detroit last year. Grown Men on Bikes, a Detroit cycle club, even has its own theme song.

On Sunday, which is Earth Day, the Detroit Tigers want to take all that a step further.

The Tigers' mascot, Paws, with cyclists who rode to Opening Day 2012/ Courtesy Detroit Tigers

The team is hosting its first Ride to the Ballpark event, testing its theory that baseball fans and bicyclists are one and the same.

“Detroit has a very cool, strong cyclist culture,” says Eli Bayless, the Tigers’ director of promotions and in-game operations.

The Tigers are offering a $14 package that includes an upper deck ticket to the game, and a ticket for a bicycle valet. Cyclists will pull up to Columbia Plaza in front of Comerica Park’s Gate A entrance, and check their bikes.

Tickets must be purchased by midnight tonight: there will be no same-day Ride to the Ballpark sales.

As of Thursday, more than 100 people had already bought their tickets, said Bayless, and the team hopes to attract a total of about 250 cyclists/fans. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Communities, News, bicycles, bike clubs, cycling, Detroit, Detroit Tigers, Earth Day
April 20, 2012 | 9:41 AM | By Meg Cramer

Midwest Migration: A Generation Moves Off The Farm

This week on Changing Gears we’re talking about people who are leaving the Midwestern industrial corridor. Some of the areas hardest hit by out-migration are small rural communities. They are facing a triple whammy – the decline of manufacturing, farming and shipping sectors.

North Country Public Radio’s Brian Mann tracked the journey of one woman who moved from a tiny town to New York City. He brings us this report:

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Mark Scarlett and his daughter, Becca Johnson, on their farm in Rossie, NY.

It’s hard to imagine just how small Becca Johnson’s hometown is. Her parents moved to Rossie, in upstate New York, in the 1970s, part of the farming and manufacturing belt that stretched from the Northeast to the Midwest.

Their family homesteaded in an old abandoned barn.

“No running water and no toilet, or anything like that,” says Johnson. She was practically a teenager before her family got indoor plumbing. “It had an interesting influence on my social life,” she says.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Communities, Jobs, News, Your Story, communities, family, Midwest Migration, New York, New York City, Public Insight Network, rural, Your Story
April 20, 2012 | 8:59 AM | By Dustin Dwyer

Midwest Memo: Medicaid Cuts In Illinois, Job Losses In Wisconsin And Ohio Sues BP

A plan for Medicaid Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has a $2.7 billion plan to keep the state’s Medicaid program solvent. According to partner station WBEZ, the plan makes deep cuts in coverage and eligibility, and raises revenue by increasing the state’s cigarette tax.

Losing jobs Wisconsin lost 4,300 jobs in March. That could have an effect one other important job: Scott Walker’s. The Governor is facing a tough recall campaign, and the state is nowhere near reaching the 250,000 new jobs he promised by the end of his term.

Gaining jobs Illinois added 9,100 jobs in March, and the state unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 percent, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

BP lawsuit Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is suing BP for $100 million, according to partner station WCPN Ideastream. DeWine says BP is responsible for a drop in its stock price after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The Ohio pension system was an investor in BP at the time.

Starting over WCPN Ideastream also talks to people in their 50s, who are starting a career all over again.

Brain gain The University of Michigan will spend $163 million to build the state’s first hospital focused on neuroscience, according to the Detroit News.

FILED UNDER: Midwest Memo, BP, jobs, Medicaid, Mike DeWine, neuroscience, oil spill, Pat Quinn, Scott Walker, University of Michigan, workers
April 19, 2012 | 3:15 PM | By Dan Bobkoff

Do We Need More Engineers?

Cameron Close, Joseph Bersuder, and Marcus Grimm all landed well-paying engineering jobs.

It’s a mantra among politicians and CEOs across the Midwest and the country: we need to graduate more engineers in order to stay competitive in the world economy. It’s pitched as a way to create jobs and innovation. But all that might be wrong.

Continue reading →

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FILED UNDER: Government, Industry, Innovation, Jobs, engineering, engineers, hal salzman, jobs, Obama, university of akron
April 19, 2012 | 10:56 AM | By Micki Maynard

Grand Rapids Tries To Re-Brand A Former Auto Plant

When General Motors went into Chapter 11 protection three years ago, it closed factories all over the Midwest. 

One of them was the Grand Rapids Metal Center, a 2 million square foot stamping plant in Wyoming, Mich. Once the biggest employer in that Grand Rapids suburb, it was the first site sold by Motors Holdings, the company created to liquidate GM’s unwanted locations.

Now, new owners are trying to give the 75-year-old factory a new identity, reports Lindsey Smith at our partner Michigan Radio. They’ve demolished most of what was once they’re and re-branded the location as Site 36 (the factory’s address was 300 36th Street).

The developers would like to attract a global company, but they know there’s limited cache to trying to peddle a former GM plant. Thus, the new name.

Can it work? Many communities around the region are trying to find their own solutions, from Janesville, Wis., to Wixom, Mich., and Dayton, Ohio.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Industry, auto plant, General Motors, Grand Rapids, re-development