Ford Launches Edgy, Midwestern Themed Ad Campaign

I'm in the wrong demographic for about 99% of TV commercials.  One just got my attention.

Ford launched a campaign of talking vs. doing.  That's up my alley.

They take more than a few shots at so-called tech titans and add a strong dose of Midwest edginess to do it.  Wow.  Midwest and edginess don't normally mix.

The images are as good as the message.  There's a coal worker, a steel furnace, a forging shop, and the Ford Rouge plant that started an industrial revolution in there.

Worth a look.  A couple or more times.

Seems like more than just an ad.  It's a great short story and a metaphor for so many things in my World.

No Rust Here: The New American Heartland

With tweets over the past few days, the Center for Opportunity Urbanism released its latest report by co-authors Joel Kotkin and Michael Lind.  "The New American Heartland: Revitalizing The Middle Class by Revitalizing Middle America" piece is now available for download.

Before the 2016 Presidential election made manufacturing and the Midwest populist topics, the report was being put together. The report sends the message that the "New American Heartland" is the key to revitalizing the entire country and the middle class.  The opportunities for U.S. manufacturing's future are fueled by logistics, energy, and a growing middle class from the Midwest and the entire middle of the country.

I have a bias, but I say it's a must-read.

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A sidebar in the report has a familiar name on it.  Here's an excerpt from yours truly.

Trend Talk: Five Minutes on Economic Growth Opportunity

I'll be speaking to an audience of Licking County Chamber of Commerce members this morning.

I have five minutes.

It's hard to be that concise, but this column gives me a chance to practice.

1. If we are being pragmatic, President Trump may be riding a trend more than setting one with a focus on the Midwest and growing our manufacturing base.

2. The U.S. is poised to grow the manufacturing sector against GDP competitors that are facing declining working age populations.

GDP in 2016 vs. population projects for 2017

3. The Midwest is poised to outpace the rest of the U.S. in GDP growth due to a host of factors, including energy, logistics, cost of living, and human capital.  

Joel Kotkin's slide from Trustbelt presentation in 2015

 4. Ohio is poised to grow manufacturing in the suburbs and places like Licking County.

An excerpt from RickPlatt.com column on Site Selection magazine report.

5. Licking County has been, can be, and, I predict, will be a microcosm of these trends with a continued focus on manufacturing and other "economic-base" jobs.

CELab explains value of jobs where goods and services are exported out of an economy.

There.  Five minutes is short.

Hopefully a few folks tune in for future trend messages.

Pragmatic Perspective on Oval Office Occupant

Tomorrow's inauguration of our 45th President of the United States is on my mind like it is, of course, the minds of many people.  My thinking has been the same since the election in November.  A pragmatic perspective is from where I come.

That perspective was put to the test on election day and ever since.

I was in Europe on an economic development recruitment mission during the week of the November election.  In fact, I was in Milan heading to Berlin when the election was called for Donald Trump.

As you would expect, the Presidential Election was a dominate side topic in the business meetings in Europe.  At one meeting with an executive for a major financial services organization in Southern Germany, our contingent was asked to share our perspective on the previous day's election.  I chimed in first.

It was not a time to give a partisan perspective.  What would someone in Germany care for that?

It wasn't time for a negative perspective either.  What would that serve?

So, I gave my pragmatic one.

I said that I believe time will show that a Trump presidency will be good for manufacturing and better for the Midwestern U.S. in general.  I shared that one consistent thing that every first-term president has ever wanted is to get re-elected.  Thus, the region that helped vote him in is important to him in the future--the Midwest matters to a Trump presidency.

The exec's response? "So yours is a not so pessimistic perspective."

Mission accomplished.

And I believe it.

Midwest Advantage #235

Joel Kotkin's latest piece finds what many of us in the Midwest already knew.  Everything is relative.

Paychecks in the Midwest are pretty good when one accounts for costs of living.  It's a reason that belongs high on the list for why industry business development should be looking more and more to the Industrial Midwest for investment.

Kotkin looked at 51 metropolitan areas and put Cincinnati and Columbus in the top 10.  He concluded, "When cost of living is factored in, most of the places that boast the highest effective pay turn out to be in the less celebrated and less expensive middle part of the country."

Indeed.  Call it another Midwest advantage.

See the full article.

Midwest Work Ethic Wins Hands Down

The Midwest wins on work ethic.

I love what Gary Heminger from Marathon Petroleum is quoted as saying in a recent news article in the Findlay Courier.

"I'll put our work ethic up against anybody in the business.  Anybody.  People from the Midwest, Ohio, will just outwork you.  And then, if we don't outwork you today, we'll outwork you tonight, and then we'll beat you tomorrow."

Enough said.

Midwest vs. South: It's Not Your Grandfather's Unionization Rate

One more day of the Midwest vs. South debate in economic development.  Time to tackle a normally taboo topic--unions.

Unions are the one thing that Southern States like to tout against the Midwest when prospects are looking at sites in both places.  I'm not going to convince the unconvincable, but "Right to Work" states don't have anything on non "Right to Work" states when it comes to unionization.  Though the perception is there, the facts don't bear it out.

In fact, a recent report from the BLS found that states which Ohio often competes have seen increased rates of unionization. Between 2011 and 2010, Florida, Kentucky, and Mississippi actually saw increased rates while Ohio's rate declined.

It's true, though, that when Ohio and Midwest states lose big economic deals to Southern states that its unionization that's the reason given. 

Times are changing, though.

The above is a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics map showing regions of the country and how they compare. What I see on this map is this:  Ohio is more closely aligned with the national average and some Southern states when it comes to union membership rates.  Perception and reality aren't the same.

Much of the difference in overall rates can be attributed to government workers and old-line manufacturers.  In Ohio, state and much of the local government employees are, automatically, placed in a union.  That tends to raise Ohio's rates statistically.

Among Ohio's new manufacturers who have located here in the past 30 years, there are a vast, vast majority that can factually state no new organized unions. 

The Midwest is starting to turn this issue favorably too.

Midwest vs. South: Costs of Doing Business

Last week, if there was a theme to my column, it was cities vs. suburbs. This week, it's the Midwest vs. the South.

The cost of doing business was considered the chief reason companies could justify the migration from places like Cleveland and Detroit. Presumably, the foreign direct investment by Japanese and German automakers in the South was, in a big way, driven by labor costs.

The Wall Street Journal reports the gap is closing. A Moody's index has the South at 95% and the Midwest at 96% of the national average on business cost inputs. Is that, even, a difference?