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February 6, 2012 | 9:45 AM | By Dustin Dwyer

Midwest Memo: Cleaning Up In Indy, Expanding In Grand Rapids And Turning Trash Into Energy In Cleveland

The day after The Super Bowl is over, and now the cleanup process begins for Indianapolis.

Opportunity knocked Reuters looks into what happened to all those clients of MF Global, after the firm collapsed. Turns out two Chicago firms were the biggest winners, bringing in $1.2 billion in new funds.

More ‘Free’ beds The Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. is planning a $48 million expansion. The expansion will double the hospital’s size.

Gasification fight Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson wants to turn the city’s trash into energy. But environmentalists have raised concerns about emissions from the “gasification” process. And the city council is not sold on the idea.

Going once, going twice, oh never mind … Detroit residents who had their homes taken away because of a failure to pay taxes are getting an opportunity to buy those homes back. The Detroit News reports that thousands of city-owned properties failed to sell at auction. So officials now say they’ll offer to sell the property back to the original owner, or whoever is squatting in the home, for as little as $500.

Not really ‘Made In Detroit’ Last week, we put together a list of all the companies making t-shirts to show your local pride in the Midwest. Today, Susan Tompor looks at one of those companies and asks “Where are those ‘Made In Detroit’ shirts actually made?”

FILED UNDER: Midwest Memo, auction, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, gasification, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Made in Detroit, Mary Free Bed, MF Global, Super Bowl, t-shirts
February 3, 2012 | 3:30 PM | By Micki Maynard

5 Top Midwest Stories This Week From Changing Gears

Politics is front of mind here in the Midwest. We’re also thinking about what to wear, watch, and where our friends went. Here’s a roundup of our top Changing Gears stories this week.

WiSCONSIN: Niala Boodhoo went to Madison, where she showed us how union members are still protesting a year after Gov. Scott Walker eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights. She reported on how they’re faring.

RIGHT TO WORK: Indiana is now the nation’s 23rd Right to Work state, only two months after Gov. Mitch Daniels made the legislation one of his top priorities. Will Michigan be next?

MIDWEST MIGRATION: Our Public Insight team has been tracking the stories of people who’ve left our states. There’s still time for our exiles to call us and leave messages for the folks back home. Meanwhile, read much more on our dedicated page.

T-SHIRTS: If you seek a Midwest t-shirt, look about you. Dustin Dwyer found our states are chock full of small companies making t-shirts that represent our region.

DIY DETROIT: Have you found that all those documentary films about Detroit are starting to look the same? Dustin offers you a how-to kit for making your own Detroit documentary.

Finally, a shout out to Troy “Trombone Shorty,” who sings the Changing Gears theme. He’s been immortalized by the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Industry, Jobs, Politics, Your Story, Detroit, Indiana, Midwest Migration, t-shirts, Trombone Shorty, Wisconsin
February 1, 2012 | 3:04 PM | By Dustin Dwyer

Love Your Region? There’s A Shirt For That

michiganawesome.myshopify.com

The Michigangster tee from Michigan Awesome

The story of the economic transformation in the Midwest is a story about new jobs, new industries and economic growth.

But it’s also a story about how we regain our swagger.

And part of regaining our swagger is reminding ourselves what we love about where we live. There are now countless official PR and advertising campaigns aimed at doing just that. But there’s also a growing movement of young entrepreneurs who want us to wear our local pride. Wear it like a shirt.

The explosion of new businesses selling custom-designed t-shirts is not a local thing. And the growth of the “t-shirt economy” has been going on for at least the last several years.

But here in the Midwest, selling t-shirts with a local message isn’t just a business plan. It’s a transformative idea. Whenever you see one of these shirts on the street, you’re seeing a person that’s invested in the survival, growth and reinvention of our region. At the very least, they’re willing to invest $15 in it.

And wherever you live in the Midwest, there’s a now a t-shirt to show your local pride. Here’s a list of some of the t-shirt companies we’ve found:

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Communities, Industry, Innovation, apparel, Brew City Brand Apparel, Chicago L-Shirts, CLE Clothing Co, clothing, Detroit GT, Detroit Shirt Co, Down With Detroit, great lakes shirts, Great To Be Here, High Five Threads, Ink Detroit, jupmode, local pride, Love Michigan, Made in Detroit, Michigan Awesome, Milwaukee Shirt Guys, Pure Detroit, t-shirt, t-shirts, tees, The Blonde Collective, The Mitten State, Threadless, Yooper Steez, You will do better in Toledo