Company Town on CNN

Last night I watched a one hour special on CNN about a “company town.” They featured Canton and North Canton, Ohio long time homes to Hoover (vacuums) and Timken (ball bearings). Both started in the early 1990s and closed their manufacturing operations there in early 2000s.

They showed the anguish of long term veterans of the company losing their jobs and their turmoil of deciding what new jobs and careers to pursue. They also featured a professor from Harvard who talked about the plight of these people. She thought that it was very unfair that these workers had a pact, or deal with the company and then one day it suddenly ended. She thought that there wasn’t any hope for the ex-workers nor their children, unless they left home for greener pastures.

The show’s only positive voice was the mayor of Canton, who was made to look like an out of touch cheerleader. CNN’s portrayal was that she was enthusiastic, but didn’t have a clue.

Losing a long time pillar of the community like Hoover or Timken is devastating. The hardship of losing long term jobs is overwhelming. But communities like Canton, North Canton, and others generally pick up the pieces and move on. I’ve seen it in many company towns like N. Adams, MA; Mooresville, NC; and recently in Ponca City, OK. At the end of the day they moved onto new businesses and endeavors, becoming better agurbs® as a result.

It is a shame that a news organization like CNN would have you believe that these towns are doomed and feature analysts who bemoan changes, have an entitlement mentality and don’t see the can-do spirit of these communities. They see recent downturns as trends that can’t be turned around. They miss completely the true spirit of small town America.