company towns

Economy

Michigan company towns: The mixed blessing of having a single major employer

Stateside Staff

When you hear the term “company town” you might think of DOW and Midland, Ford and Dearborn, Kellogg and Battle Creek, or Whirlpool and Benton Harbor. But…

Politics & Government

Stateside for Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

Stateside Staff

We continued our look at energy in Michigan on the show. Today, it's all about fracking. Horizontal hydraulic fracturing has led to an abundance of…

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…