Blue Collar Career Fair

Creating a new workforce solution You’ve told us you’d like your kids to either stay in the community or come back after being in the world a little bit. Here’s one way to get them interested in your businesses and community. Let them experience your business. Don’t just preach at a one-day event and discuss…

Read More

A visit to a tile factory in Portugal

Deb in tile factory in portugal

Federico, a friend from Lisbon, picked me up from the hotel. Our intention for the day was to visit small towns in the Portugal countryside. Lisbon is a major metropolis and driving is just like driving in Chicago. It helps to know where you are going. As we drove the buildings got smaller, and the…

Read More

Is small scale manufacturing a thing for small towns?

worker using sewing machine

Just what is small scale manufacturing?  It’s the artisan makers, the prototyping to small scale, it’s the production at scale, the makerspaces and the shared commercial kitchens and workshops. You’d be looking for craft brewers, artisan businesses, contract manufacturing, commercial kitchens, farmers market organizers, and the ‘connectors’. Let’s play a short game of who do…

Read More