Rail: Moving From Niche to Mainstream

Could rail-served sites and communities be re-entering the mainstream of logistics development?

A logistics session at the IEDC Leadership Summit left me thinking the answer could be "yes."

Mainstream logistics have been thought of as a truck thing. Plop your big box building down along an interstate and accept trucks galore. Though that's still the norm for many distribution centers, the rail component is increasingly a component even in that decision, the panelists agreed.

"The beginning of a new era," is how Don Schjeldahl phrased the way that rail and rail-served sites have become more important in the site selectors' decision making. Where rail rolling stock is most available and most negotiable is where the niche becomes most mainstream.

This is a trend that bodes well for places like Licking County where dual rail service has been a niche for 150+ years.

Thanks, Allison Larsen, for a great session.

Another Venue to Share The Manufacturing Story

I'm attending the three-day Leadership Summit for the International Economic Development Council.

For me, it's another chance to share the good news manufacturing story that has become not just a good news story from Licking County but one for Ohio, the Midwest, and the nation.  I've been invited to moderate a dialog on manufacturing.  I'm greatly looking forward to it.

Three messages I hope to share:

- Joel Kotkin was right.  Two years ago, when close to no one was talking about beating China for GDP and the rebirth of U.S. manufacturing, there was a demographer and author writing about both.  Kotkin's February 2010 publishing of The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050 looks mighty prophetic now.  I'm hoping he's proven even more right as the years go forward too.

- Embrace manufacturing.  These two words may mean completely different things to different people in different parts of the country.  And that's OK.  The fact that President Obama, in his recent State of the Union address, mentioned manufacturing 15 times, 300% more than he had in all previous three years combined, is a pretty good example of embracing manufacturing.

In Licking County, this means two things.  Keep sharing the good news about manufacturing and the message that manufacturing is alive.  It also means to keep going with our national model STEM education efforts at The Works, our local science museum.  Part of preparing for our community for a rebirth of manufacturing is getting buy-in from parents and kids as early as preschool.  This is how we do it.

- Invest in skills training.  This blog has written about the importance of this for years.  I've cited the Ohio stat about the Class of '65 turning 65 in 2012 so often that I might be making some people sick of it.  However, Licking County is more prepared than most to absorb the loss of aging baby boomers from the workforce and that's part of why we are having less workforce issues than most. 

C-TEC's 79|Seventy Manufacturing Certification Program is a shining example of how to prepare a workforce with pre-employment training and pay for it in a way that doesn't break governments' budgets.

That's enough to share for three days.

SOTU Manufacturing Mentions

With 15 mentions of manufacturing in his 2012 State of the Union, President Obama spotlighted a segment of the economy worthy, for many reasons, to be spotlighted.

It caused me to look, though, at the President's three previous SOTU addresses. The total mentions of any variation of manufacturing was just five. Three in 2011, two in 2010, and zero in 2009.

I'll leave the judgement of that to readers, except to add this pondering thought: What changed? Was it manufacturing that changed or the President that did?

Younz Heard About the State of the State?

Steubenville will be hosting Ohio Governor John Kasich's State of the State address on February 7.

It really is extraordinary to see a Governor move his annual big deal event to any part of the state other than the state capital.  Having worked and lived in Steubenville for over five years, I can imagine the excitement of such an event.   I say, "Good move."

A thought struck me though.

This could be the first State of the State address in Ohio where the Governor says "younz" as part of his formal remarks.  It could also be the first State of the State address where if the Governor did say "younz" that he would also be understood by the audience.

Here's a little bit more background:

Governor Kasich is from McKees Rocks, PA, just off the Ohio River north of Pittsburgh.  Though he, seemingly, suppresses it from 30+ years living in Ohio, younz is still part of his native language.

Steubenville is the "Burb of the Burgh" in Ohio.  In other words, they're pretty close.  Steubenville people talk like Pittsburghers.

Oh yeah.  Younz is Pittsburghese for you'all.

400 Fans For A Facility?

We're proud, but even I have to scratch my head a little bit.

Last night, some time, the Port Authority hit the milestone of 400 and added a distinquished 401 to boot.

How does a Port Authority get 400 fans for its Facebook page?  After all, the Port Authority is best known for its facility--the Central Ohio Aerospace & Technology Center.  Who becomes a fan of a facility?

Now, that only makes us want 500.  Are you a fan yet?  Visit http://Facebook.com/OhioPortAuthority to join the growing list.

The SOTU "M" Word Report

CBS News provided a word cloud graphic to depict the President's State of the Union and its 7,000 words graphically.

CBSNews.com SOTU word cloud.  The larger the word, the more frequent the mention.

It shows the "M" word in the middle, front and center. Manufacturing got mentioned four paragraphs and less than four minutes into the speech. The 15 times a variation of the word manufacturing was used means the word got some decent play for the American people and media to absorb.

I rate that a very good thing. And I was a skeptic going in that I'd hear the word at all.

Mitch Daniels' word cloud courtesy of TBO.com

Though, personally, I'm a fan of the successful, pragmatic job Mitch Daniels has done as Governor of Indiana, I can't say I'm a fan of his remarks' lack of focus on manufacturing and lack of use of the "m" word in his Republican response. His speech gave us zero references to manufacturing. Zero.

I think the President could be riding the tide of a manufacturing renaissance. His timing is good as many "swing" states are also manufacturing-oriented ones. If the SOTU is any indication, he may be seizing it as an issue all his own too.

How Long For the "M" Word?

Though manufacturing is, increasingly, a part of the public discourse among politicians in our country, I'm wondering if it will be the lead off of the State of the Union address or the Republican response afterward this evening.

President Obama could start off with the "m" word.  Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels could do the same for the Republican response. 

Sorry. I'm a bit skeptical.

I'm watching.  I'm counting, too, to see how far in before the "m" word gets said.