Changing Gears

John Schmid vice president of Smith Dairy in Orrville, OH. The family adopted the business name Smith before World War I—a time when the German-sounding Schmid was not an asset.

Road Trip: Orrville, more than a company town (Part 5)

Our Changing Gears team has been on the road this week traveling to some of our company towns in the Midwest.Changing Gears is a Michigan Radio project…

Saving Norwalk Furniture means about 150 locals have jobs again.

Road Trip: Norwalk saves its company (Part 4)

When a company bears the name of its hometown, it can be hard to separate the two. Such is the case with Norwalk Furniture and the town of Norwalk in…

Lee Woods of Northern Tire. The vehicle that uses this tire can haul 320 tons of iron ore.

Ishpeming: Where iron ore built a city (Part 3 - with photos)

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-979540.mp3Our Changing Gears project is on the road, bringing you stories of…

Corn being grown across the street from Archer Daniels Midland Co. headquarters in Decatur.

Road Trip: Decatur, The Heart of Illinois Agribusiness (Part 2)

Our Changing Gears road trip continues. Yesterday, I was in Kohler, Wisconsin. Today, I went down state in Illinois to Decatur.Driving south from Chicago,…

The name you see in many bathrooms around the country has its roots in Kohler, Wisconsin.

What company towns look like today: Kohler, Wisconsin (Part 1)

From Pullman in Chicago to Firestone in Akron, these employers loomed large in everyone's daily lives.But what does a "company town" look like today?The…

Algal Scientific's demo project at an Ohio landfill.

Growing the region's clean economy

The clean economy is touted as a future economic driver of the region. But a new report shows that while Ohio and Illinois have added jobs to the clean…

Andy Case, founder of the blog "Midwestern Gentlemen."

Your Story: Highlighting the Midwest so people will stay

Andy Case thinks the Midwest has an image problem. Even worse, he says, is that Midwesterners buy into the characterization of the Midwest as “flyover…

Jerry Berta teaching art at the Ann Arbor Public Library in 2002.

Your Story: Gambling on a career as an artist, and now as a teacher

Making money as an artist can be tough, but Jerry Berta made a good living selling his clay pieces for decades.He and his wife Madeline Kaczmarczyk, also…

Amber Turner and Jordan Ceresnie are engaged and work together

Arts & Life

Your Story: Highs and lows of working in the family business

Family bonding can be a reward for working in a family business. But there is also plenty Amber Turner worries about.The restaurant industry took a…

Crews working to clean up oil on the Kalamazoo River. They use airboats because they have less impact on the river.

Canadian oil is boosting midwest economy, but at what cost?

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-976530.mp3Green energy is often said to be the future of the Midwest economy.…