On Monday’s show, Buck brought on guest Tom Rogan, a columnist for National Review and Senior Fellow for the Steamboat Institute, who recently wrote up a story about the economic resurgence of Escanaba, MI, a Trump-leaning town which has become a hub of growth.
Buck asked what factors contributed to their resurgence.
“They have a great setup in terms of their community college,” Rogan said. “The leadership at the top, the president is very bright, entrepreneurial. But the courses that they offer are specifically designed to fill gaps in the marketplace.”
Two of those majors were mechatronics and water treatment.
“These are high-skill, technical labor positions. The individuals who graduate are able to find jobs. Especially in water treatment, where there are 15 times more jobs than there are graduates. Business owners are joined together to address in a concerted sense what they need to change to make things better.”
Buck asked what Rogan felt were the lessons that other small towns should take away.
“The key element is that you need a sense of the community organizing, local businesses, medium to large size, and even small, discussing issues of concern, and coming as a group to their local politician. That gives them more weight of voice, more influence.”
“The other thing is asking, what is the community college designed to do? Does it innovate? Does it offer unconventional programs that are designed to get jobs for graduates on a low-cost basis?”
“If you asked Escanaba, what is the role of government? I think they’d say limited,” said Rogan. For himself, he offered the solution of more PELL grants for community college education.
“You get more bang for your buck.”
Buck said he supports a “national rethink” towards “shoveling everybody into expensive four-year liberal arts programs” that have a tendency to look down on so-called skilled trades.
“You can see that they’re being equipped with the skills to succeed is an enormous benefit,” Rogan said.
Click on the media above to hear their discussion in full.