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Posted in BizTechCivic AffairsNewsPoliticsThomas MulreadyUncategorized

Cool Cleveland Interviews Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Candidates As a service to the community, Cool Cleveland has invited all five Cuyahoga County Prosecutor candidates to respond to a series of questions prior to the primary election on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. Because no Republican candidates are running, the Democratic candidate with the most votes in the Democratic [...]

Posted in BizTechCivic AffairsNewsPoliticsThomas MulreadyUncategorized

Cool Cleveland Interviews Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Candidates As a service to the community, Cool Cleveland has invited all five Cuyahoga County Prosecutor candidates to respond to a series of questions prior to the primary election on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. Because no Republican candidates are running, the Democratic candidate with the most votes in the Democratic [...]

The name Ener1 may not be familiar to you.

But the company does have some of your money.

Indiana-based Ener1 is one of the major players in the new advanced battery economy that we reported on back in October. Advanced battery manufacturing has received well over a billion dollars in federal, state and local investment. The biggest chunk for Ener1 came in the form of a $118.5 million grant as part of the Obama administration’s stimulus program (the company was called EnerDel at the time).

Not surprisingly, Ener1′s bankruptcy has led to some vigorous finger-pointing in Washington.

But what will the bankruptcy mean for the battery industry in the Midwest, and the jobs it created?

The answer: Not much.

Back in October, when Changing Gears reported on the advanced battery industry, we talked to analyst Dave Hurst of Pike Research.

Today we called him back for a follow-up.

Hurst says he wasn’t at all surprised by Ener1′s bankruptcy filing. Its main customer, Think Global, went into bankruptcy in June. Ener1′s stock was delisted from the Nasdaq in December.

“They did not diversify fast enough to be able to survive,” Hurst says.

Ener1 says it will make it through bankruptcy with all of its divisions and jobs intact. The company says the bankruptcy process is more about restructuring debt obligations.

Still, Hurst says he doubts the company will remain viable in the automotive industry.

“It’s tough to see a strong business-model to be honest,” he says. “Basically they have to find a market that’s here now.”

The problem, Hurst says is the electric vehicle industry isn’t taking hold as quickly as people expected. Ener1′s CEO admitted as much in the press release that announced the bankruptcy.

Hurst says, if EnerDel is to survive, it’ll have to win business outside the auto industry, in things like energy storage for the electric grid or small batteries for power tools.

And he says Ener1 isn’t the only battery company that could be in trouble.

“Not all the ones that are out there now are going to survive,” Hurst says. “There’s just too much battery capacity for how many vehicles are coming.”

One of Ener1′s competitors, A123 Systems, laid off hundreds of workers in Michigan last year.

But ultimately Hurst believes these are just the growing pains of a new industry. There may be bankruptcies. There may be mergers and consolidations. But he says, battery manufacturing isn’t going away.

“As plants start to ramp up,” Hurst says, “You’re going to see a lot more growth.”

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is on the verge of achieving the top item on his agenda. Indiana’s Senate is expected to cast a final vote tomorrow on Right to Work legislation, and Daniels most likely will sign it soon after

Right to Work laws prohibit a union from collecting mandatory dues at a workplace, even if they are representing the employees. Both houses in Indiana have already approved a Right to Work measure, but one house is required to agree on the other’s bill.

This morning, there were protestors at the Indiana State Capitol, singing “Solidarity Forever” as Democratic lawmakers prepared last-minute amendments to the bill, said the Indianapolis Star.

One would seek a statewide referendum on the issue. The other would let companies choose whether to continue mandatory dues.

Neither proposal is expected to be successful, because Republicans have a strong grip on the Indiana Senate.

Indiana is set to become the 23rd state to adopt Right to Work legislation, and the first since Oklahoma in 2001.

Name: Ben Bradley
Midwest Home: Minneapolis, MN
New Home: Maryland

I graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in May of 2009. I had been applying for jobs in the Twin Cities area and the Midwest in general since the previous October, but hadn’t gotten a single interview.

After I graduated I continued to apply for jobs and ended up spending 9 months unemployed. By that point I had started applying to any engineering job that I was qualified for, and some that I wasn’t.

I eventually got an interview and was offered a job working on flight tests for the Navy in Maryland. The economy is booming where I live now, thanks almost exclusively to defense spending. Economically, I am in a much better position than I was, but I don’t quite fit in with the local culture.

I would love to move back to the Midwest. I grew up there and prefer the culture to that of the east coast. I’m a Midwestern boy at heart, but it seems like there aren’t any jobs for me there right now. It is my hope that once the economy picks up a bit more, I will be able to find a job in the Twin Cities.

Read more Midwest Migration stories on our dedicated page. If you or someone you know has left the Midwest add your own story.

Talking Points Memo, an influential political blog, is estimating that as much as $100 million could be spent on the recall fight involving Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

It quotes analysts saying spending could be two or three times the $44 million that candidates and their supporters spent during state Senate recall races last year. Walker, at least, is getting ready for a pitched battle. He raised $4.5 million in just over a month, and has more than $2 million on hand, according to TPM.

But, given the state of our economy, that got us thinking: what else could $100 million pay for in the Midwest? We found all kinds of things that carry that price tag.

Detroit Schools’ Deficit. A year ago, the Detroit Public Schools were $327 million in the red. Now, the deficit has been reduced to $89 million, according to Roy Roberts, the district’s emergency manager.

But it wouldn’t be handing us back any change. The steps the district took to reduce its shortfall means it has to pay about $20 million a year in interest, so it will have a use for the money left over from the $100 million.

Loans in Cleveland. Last week, the The Cuyahoga County Council launched a $100 million fund designed to build businesses and create jobs.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the county is offering 11 types of loans. Five types of loans, including those to attract investors for start-ups, redevelop properties and to lure large companies, will be accepting applications immediately. The others are expected to start over the next four months.

A Bunch of Robots. Ford Motor Company is spending $100 million to install laser vision robots at three factories, including the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne and the Chicago Assembly Plant.

The robots are meant to give the company a more accurate reading of the way its parts fit together, helping it improve quality and reduce wind noise.

Turkeys in Indiana. Farbest Foods of Huntingburg, Ind., may spend that much to build a turkey processing plant in Vigo County, as well as a feed mill and a brooding hub.

Before it can make the investment, though, it needs to sign contracts with 60 to 70 farmers in central Indiana and east-central Illinois.

Your turn: how would you spend $100 million in the Midwest?

The $3 billion fish What’s the best way to keep invasive Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes and terrorizing the sport fishing industry? A new report says Lake Michigan should be disconnected from the Mississippi River. The two water bodies have no natural connection, but they’ve been connected by a series of man-made canals. Problem is, undoing that work will cost at least $3 billion.

Plans for the Pier Chicago’s Navy Pier is planning an $85 million face-lift. The Chicago Tribune has a look at five ambitious plans for the pier. One official admits to the paper that all the plans would exceed the budget for the project. But he’s hoping to generate enthusiasm for the Pier – and maybe some donations.

Streetcars in Milwaukee A plan to put streetcars in downtown Milwaukee moved one step forward yesterday. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that federal regulators say the plan will have no negative environmental impact. The question of paying for the rail line is more complicated.

Homeless, not hopeless The number of homeless children in Ohio has nearly doubled since 2006. Partner station ideastream Cleveland has a look at one program trying to keep those kids in school.

A visit from the Veep Less than a week after President Obama visited Ann Arbor, Mich., Vice President Biden will be in the Mitten State for a speech in Grand Rapids on Wednesday. Partner station Michigan Radio has the details.

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The rebound in manufacturing is making news all over the country, especially here in the Midwest.

Last fall, in one of our best-received series, Changing Gears devoted a month of reports to exploring how manufacturing has changed. The plants of today are not your father’s factories, and the workers they are employing are not the same people who worked in plants a generation ago.

Here, to refresh your memory, is our series on Midwest Manufacturing.

TEMPS: Think there are no jobs in manufacturing? Kate Davidson found there are plenty — for temporary workers. Staffing agencies that provide workers to manufacturing plants are finding that they can’t keep up with the demand.

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING: Here in the Midwest, you often hear the term “advanced manufacturing. But what it is? And why do we need to remain leaders in this field? Dan Bobkoff explained in this story.

RON BLOOM: One of the most controversial men in manufacturing during the past few years was Ron Bloom, the Obama administration official who helped oversee the $82 billion bailout to Detroit’s automakers. Bloom recently moved back to Pittsburgh, and he has plenty to say about the role of manufacturing in our national economy. Bobkoff talked to him for Changing Gears.

BATTELLE: Steve Jobs’ death last fall reminded us that everyone has ideas, and very few become actual products. That’s because ideas need a push – and in some cases, a big one, from from science, to become reality. That’s especially true for manufacturers. Niala Boodhoo told the little-known story of Ohio’s Battelle Memorial Institute.

Line graphs are usually nothing to get excited about. But this particular graph released today by the Chicago Fed tells the story of manufacturing over the last decade. Represented in that one bold line are the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in the Midwest. The bold line shows the jobs that were lost, the factories that were shut down and the products we no longer make. We can learn a lot from where that line has been, and where it seems to be headed.

Now, look at the slightly thinner line. That line is manufacturing for the country as a whole. See how it didn’t dip nearly as far as the bold line in 2009? That tells you how much harder we got hit in the Midwest.

But we can learn a lot from the rise of those lines as well. Even though many, many people in the Midwest are still out of a job, our manufacturing sector is improving dramatically. We had it much worse than the rest of the nation when things got bad. But over the past two years, Midwest manufacturing has improved at better than twice the rate as the rest of the country.

The Chicago Fed also provides a set of data with a longer view of things. In that data, we can see that our manufacturing sector is now more productive than its been since September of 2008. But that number is still worse than it had been for the previous ten years. So, things are bad. But at least we’ve made it back to where we were in 1997.

The economic transformation of the Midwest has been the story of our lives for at least the past three years. Depending on where you live, the transformation has been going on for a lot longer. But as the economy transforms, one thing isn’t changing: This is a region that makes things.

The line proves it.