Earlier this year, Urban Institute researcher Rolf Pendall and several co-authors issued a report on industry and labor for the states that surround the Great Lakes—Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Their conclusion: Though the region has long been synonymous with post-industrial decay and an aging, shrinking workforce, it can recover. But its salvation won’t come from luring in those much-sought-after new younger workers that cities are always vying for: “The secret for success,” Pendall told CityLab, “is investing in the kids…who already live there.”
Such investment is particularly important because the Great Lakes region’s residents are older than the rest of the country—and its current younger residents (as well as immigrants) often prefer to head to greener economic pastures on the coasts as soon as possible. As more workers retire in the coming 10 to 15 years, the states will need young people to replace them—as well as fill new jobs. While the industrial posts of yesteryear aren’t coming back, related employment, such as chemical manufacturing and the production of precision metals, is on the rise and requires technical training.
