I’ve written a lot of things. Columns. Editorials. Newspaper stories about a guy running for president out of a van that he shares with his foreign-born wife and two small children. But I have never written an “op/ed,” a special kind of editorial/column hybrid named for its traditional positioning on the “opposite” page from the “editorial” page. Well, today that changes.
My op/ed “Next generation ponders new hope on the Iron Range” appears in today’s Duluth News-Tribune. On Monday, op/eds run on the editorial page, so its more of an “guest ed” but, dammit, don’t ruin my moment.
Aaron,
You bring up several good points on not being able to change where you are from and wanting to stay in the area. I grew up in Duluth (although I spent many weekends traveling to the Iron Range for hockey games) and left the area, but would like to return.
While growing up, I always heard people constantly whining and crying because there weren’t any jobs in the area. There were all sorts of excuses, some of which I believed and others which I didn’t. The same people who complained were never willing to do anything substantive to try and make changes. Living and traveling around the country for seven years since college, I’ve come to the conclusion there’s only one way the area will permanently change. Unfortunately, there won’t be any significant impact for at least 10 years. The one advantage that Northeastern Minnesota has is that a higher than average percentage of the people who grew up in the region like the amenities the area offers.
To turn the economy around long term with good paying, white collar jobs are to encourage our high school graduates to attend the best colleges in the country (Ivy League, Stanford, USC, Michigan, Texas, etc), work in an area that is a hotbed for their profession (SF Bay and Austin for IT grads, NYC and Chicago for Financial grads, Dallas or Houston for Engineering or Alternative Energy grads, etc) for five years or so, and then move back to Northeastern Minnesota and use their knowledge and connections they made to start businesses here. If area grads can’t afford to go to the best colleges and universities, they can go to UMD, Bemidji State, or the U of M, but encourage them to do internships in places like San Francisco, Dallas, or New York and move there for a few years after graduation. Once a few businesses get started and grow, the employees they hire will start other companies in the area and the process will repeat itself over time. Now some of these students who go away to school will never come back, but many if not most will.
So basically, what I am advocating is encouraging kids from NE Minnesota to do is move away to gain (or steal) knowledge from other areas of the country and bring it back here.
I had my 10 year high school reunion last year and it was almost sad to see how many smart kids who finished college are stuck working a minimum wage job in town because they either don’t want to leave the area or are afraid to and there’s nothing there for them. There was only one person (out of a class of 240 or so) I talked with who has a private sector job in the Duluth area and even pays competitively with what one would pay in the Twin Cities.
I just don’t see any other legitimate way that the region is going to have a lot of employment opportunities for college grads over time. Sure, there will be times when the steel plants will be hiring, but when the demand for steel drops many of the jobs will leave.
My oldest daughter has an undergraduate degree and is preparing for graduate school to be a physician assistant. She left the Range to earn her bachelor’s degree in Arizona, and is pursuing her master’s degree in Portland. As a P.A., my daughter will be able to get a job anywhere. I hope she will choose to come back to the Range, with all the connections and knowledge she will have gained in other parts of the U.S.
My middle daughter is attending an Iron Range community college before transfering to a 4-year liberal arts college in Wisconsin.
My youngest daughter is in the process of applying to Portland State University.
So, they’ve all chosen to leave the area for their educations. I hope they will return if good jobs can be had, and contribute to their hometown and the Iron Range. I think you are right that this is key to the success of the Range.