ON TRACK: Students learn machinist skills in a Focus: HOPE classroom. The program is designed to put them on a career path to a middle-class income. (Courtesy photo) Craig Vanderburg will be the first to tell you that he’s worked hard for what he has, but caught a few breaks along the way. He came […]
The Middle Class
Posted inQuality of Life
As the middle class morphs, so does the idea of marriage
FIRST COMES MARRIAGE? Keith and Emelia Stark were middle class before they got married, and are likely to stay there. But can marriage elevate less economically secure couples into the middle class? Experts aren’t so sure. (Courtesy photo) Keith and Emelia Stark admit their marriage isn’t a typical one – Keith has 19 years on […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Middle class shifts challenge traditional service clubs
They’ve been a fixture of city-limit signs for generations: Under the one that welcomes you to the community, two or three service-club logos and exhortations to join the Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions or Jaycees at their regular breakfast or lunch meetings. Service clubs are many things, but exclusive isn’t one of them. Once the barriers to […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Capsized by economy, Houghton Lake clings to hopeful signs on vacationers
UP, DOWN: Randy Krause invested in Houghton Lake’s vacation economy by buying a small hotel. He eventually lost his investment. “Weekends were busy, but that was all,” he said. (Bridge photo/Nancy Derringer) PRUDENVILLE – Whether Randy Krause’s business was the victim of hard times, changing tastes or just plain bad luck hardly matters now. The […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Shifting middle-class fortunes transform Michigan’s ‘cottage on the lake’ lifestyle
NEW POINTS OF CALL: Michigan’s manufacturing shift has helped spawn a change in the vacation business in the state, too. (Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) Richard and Patricia Dolland spent countless warm summer days and cold winter nights in their rustic cottage in Northern Michigan. Every few weeks, they’d drive three hours north from their Macomb County […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
As Michigan families redefine vacations, tourism industry turns to out-of-staters
FILLING UP: Michigan’s swimming pool industry says business is picking up in the wake of the Great Recession, as families choose more backyard vacations over journeys Up North and elsewhere. (Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) Earlier this year, John and Katy Wustman talked about buying a little place Up North to spend their vacations. “It was a […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Moving from ‘we had money’ to ‘they want money I don’t have’
GREENVILLE – The line began forming an hour before the food truck arrived, starting in the parking lot next to the barren acreage where once stood the nation’s largest refrigerator factory and winding around the front of the former UAW hall. Men and women, some with children, held empty boxes and laundry baskets they soon […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
So you think you are a member of the middle class?
Charles Ballard, a Michigan State University economist, says everyone likes to think they are middle class in America to avoid the negative connotations of the extremes of wealth (greed) and poverty (sloth). (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) Marketers aim for its money, politicians insist they are looking out for its best interests, and the […]