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The road to Johnson’s Great Society started in Athens

Sixty years ago, the first programs of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” were signed into law. They were part of a massive set of legislation that was designed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice. The road to the great society had started in Athens the year before, when the president first laid out his plan from the College Green of Ohio University. The president’s brief stop in Athens was part of a five-state, 30-hour tour of areas that would be included in the War on Poverty program. Johnson spoke a few hundred feet from Cutler Hall, named for Manasseh ...

Our observations in Europe

For the last 10 days Lynnda, Shale Crescent USA President Nathan Lord and I have been traveling through Europe as part of the U.S. Commercial Services Roadshow. The Shale Crescent USA Team got to tell the SCUSA Region story to over 250 companies in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. In addition to Jobs Ohio and Team Pennsylvania, over 20 other state and local economic development organizations – including from Virginia,Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, New Jersey and New York – were part of the Roadshow. We had over 30 one-on-one meetings with ...

Knowing where we stand

I begin this piece by noting that the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has, in my humble opinion, been the best place to work in the MOV and these remarks in no way reflect on Bureau management, executives, or the broader Department of the Treasury. This administration, however, has sent degrading messages to federal employees via official government channels and the head of the so-called department of government efficiency, Elon Musk, has referred to federal employees on his social media platform as “the parasite class.” We cannot remain silent. Federal employees have not spent the ...

What will the community lose if the Marietta Area Recycling Center closes?

What will Washington County and the surrounding areas of this community be losing if the Marietta Area Recycling Center (MARC) closes? Those of us that recycle at MARC understand that another place to recycle will need to be found. This could be through a trash service such as Rumpke, Kimble, or another provider. But what about those that live in a part of the county where recycling options are not part of the trash service. The SouthEasten Ohio Joint Solid Waste Management District provides recycling trailers at various locations throught the county at scheduled times. IF you get there ...

Presidential railcar rolled through area in 1945

Moving a president around the country has never been an easy task. Current presidents utilize a wide variety of transportation modes to get out of Washington and visit the different areas of the country. There is of course Air Force One. The Boeing 747s (there are actually two identical jets) can swiftly take the president any place in the world. There is also Marine 1, which picks up wherever the jumbo jet lands by taking him by helicopter to his destination. The Beast, a heavily modified version of a Cadillac provides ground level transportation behind armor and bullet proof glass. ...

Why manufacturing will come

When Lynnda and I went to Japan a few years ago, I knew where Tokyo and Mount Fuji were. I didn’t know where the Japanese major manufacturing centers were. Before we went to Germany last year, I knew the location of major cities. I didn’t know the Dusseldorf/Cologne area is a major manufacturing and petrochemical region or the state of NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia) where Dusseldorf and Cologne are located is also a major mining region. The USA is much larger than either of those countries. What we learned at Shale Crescent USA from working with businesspeople from all over the world ...