ESPN Outside the Lines in Beloit and Janesville

[crewcrazy]

Today, ESPN ran an episode of Outside the Lines focusing on the tough times small towns are having keeping Little League programs afloat given the tough economy. They also included a report on how well the Beloit Snappers are doing, despite the economy and the poor play of the team. I thought all three pieces were pretty well done. Videos of the stories embedded below. Did anyone else catch this today?

 

Part 1: Little League Parents in Beloit

Part 2: Success of the Beloit Snappers

Part 3: Janesville's Little League diamond project

[SeriesFinale]

Wow, as someone who went to college in Beloit and spent a lot of time working and living in the community, that was kind of hard to watch, to be honest.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Bred, born, raised, and lived my whole life in Janesville, and it's tough right now.....I can tell you from experience, watching that snippet doesn't even scratch the surface. Those guys that didn't take a buyout or early retirement are applying at places like Wal-Mart and McDonalds, who don't have the jobs available to give.

 

My wife's brother is 60, and looking for a new job. Her dad is having his retirement benefits cut or yanked.

 

It's tough to find a family in Janesville that isn't tied to GM in some way, either directly, or through a satellite company like Lear or Allied, or Jatco. Everyone knows someone who's hurting right now.

 

I know that cities all across the country are going through brutally tough times, but when one employer closing it's doors affects 15% of the workforce in a city of 60,000 people, recovery is going to be a long time coming.

[DHonks]

Geez, that's interesting. Everywhere I go there are tons of jobs available, just they usually are a step or two below the standards of their previous jobs or pay levels. I didn't realize small towns were lacking in even low-paying jobs.

[crewcrazy]

I actually have relatives that used to live in Janesville and worked at that plant that closed. Luckily, they got transferred to another plant in Michigan before the one in Janesville was closed. There was a bit of a scare when GM started closing plants left and right in Michigan, but they've survived the first cutdowns. They're not out of the woods yet, since they've apparently been told there will be more cuts near the end of the year if things don't improve soon. They have friends back in Janesville that are in situations RoCo described...being laid off months before retirement, applying for local Wal-Marts and not being able to even get a job there due to the flood of over-qualified applicants, etc.

 

It's a tough situation all around, and in small towns dominated by a single industry like that you never really realize how bad it can get until that industry shuts down.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, Janesville is in a tough situation. It was just announced by GM that they chose Orion for their small car operation and not Janesville...so the Janesville plant will remain shuttered for the time being. I think if there's any positive there it's that they no longer have to deal with the constant rumors that had been swirling in regard to what was happening. I know that's not much of a bright side, but hopefully Janesville will eventually be able to attract some new industry to make up for some of the jobs lost. It's safe to say the days of people being able to walk out of high school and make $35+ an hour on the line are probably gone for good there, though.

[DuWayne Steurer]

We're supposedly getting a new hospital that's supposed to create upwards of 600 jobs, but that's a ways off yet. It'd be nice, because the only thing Mercy Hospital is good for is a convenient place to die.

 

The company bringing in the new hospital claims at this point that the GM situation is not going to deter them from bringing the hospital here, but we'll see.

[Invader3K]

Yeah...it doesn't seem like a great time for business expansion. I co-own and operate a small business with my family and we keep getting asked when we might expand into Janesville. I just have to shake my head when people ask these days.

[Weirdos19]

I own a bar in Janesville. Fortunately for me, people still drink.

 

But, it has made it's mark on Janesville. I know hundreds of people that have left town for other work. I also know a bunch that are too stubborn to go anywhere else and it bit them in the hindquarters.

 

I really think part of the problem is that people aren't willing to take a step back in wages, lifestyle, etc. Things are different here now, and will never be the same. Even if GM were to come back here, $15/hr jobs are not as good as what they had before. Not even close.

 

I have a cousin that moved to Arlington, TX. Was an electrician at GM in Janesville. $40+ per hour. If Janesville gets GM back, he won't be invited back. They want to hire new blood, at a cut rate.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

Sorry to say, I was a child in the early 80's when the recession hit and what they feel like. I couldn't play Little League nor could I play organized football when I was 10-12 years old. We didn't have the money, and without help from relatives couldn't pay the mortgage. I remember going at night after local softball games and locals fairs picking up aluminum cans to help put food on the table. To this day, I can't eat grilled cheese or hotdogs. I used the government cheese boxes to store my baseball cards.

 

My wife thinks I was nuts when I used to be a bit frugal, and made sure I had an indespensible job. Thankfully, my kids don't need to have to go through this.

[lodiness]

We're supposedly getting a new hospital that's supposed to create upwards of 600 jobs, but that's a ways off yet. It'd be nice, because the only thing Mercy Hospital is good for is a convenient place to die.

How would this really help this area when a lot of those jobs I'm guessing really require more than a high school education? In those 600 jobs is that including hiring doctors, nurses, etc.?

[hawing]

I suppose doctors, nurses, etc. would bring at least some of their income into Rock County. I'd hope that Blackhawk Tech has some health care programs that could lead to area reasidents getting hospital jobs that aren't doctor/nurse level, but aren't maintenance/laundry level either. Plus someone at the hospital has to do food service, laundry, housekeeping, etc.

 

If I were a Rock County resident, though, I'd be skeptical about whether this is really going to happen. I admit to being surprised when St. Mary's announced that it was going to expand there. Then again, I haven't received Mercy Hospital services since my birth, and I know things have changed super dramatically since then.