Brewed Fresh Daily

There aren’t really American “company towns” anymore. The days when one business provided housing and more to a town full of its own workers have pretty much gone.

But there are still places that have a special relationship with a particular company. In Kokomo, Indiana, for example, Crysler is the largest employer. Orrville, Ohio, a small town of 9,000 is headquarters for Smuckers jams and jellies and the world’s largest pipe organ company.

As part of Your Story, Changing Gears wants to know more about the relationship between a place and its businesses. Are corporations just using these towns? Will they love ‘em and leave ‘em? Or is attracting or keeping one major employer a smart economic development strategy?

Tell us what it means to be a company town. Is it something hard to define, like the influence a corporation can have by sponsoring events or contributing to the towns identity? Or is it an economic partnership?

We’ll be covering this issue, and including your responses, in the coming weeks.