How do you reinvigorate the economy of a rust belt city? Our guests on this week’s show are working both at the grass roots and civic levels to rebuild the economies of their mid-sized cities.
Ron Kitchens is the CEO of Southwest Michigan First, a nonprofit organization dedicated to being a catalyst for success in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ron joins us to tell us about incubating new companies in this economy and how smaller businesses can thrive when large corporations fail.
Eric Mathews is the founder of Launch Memphis, an organization that nurtures technology startups in Memphis. We’ll talk to Eric about how technology can help seed an entrepreneurial community and be used to bring entrepreneurs together.
Also, Thomas Sevcik discusses how much work it can take to change the way the world views a city. Thomas is the founder of the internationally acclaimed creative studio Arthesia and he’ll tell us about the complicated issue of a city’s identity and how to find what he calls “the city’s drama.”
Smart City is a syndicated, weekly hour-long public radio talk show that takes an in-depth look at urban life: the people, places, ideas and trends that affect us all. Host Carol Coletta, president and CEO of CEOs for Cities, talks with national and international public policy experts, economists, business leaders, artists, developers, planners and others on the pulse of city life for a penetrating discussion on urban issues.
Smart City is broadcast at 6 a.m. Saturday and Sundays on WKNO-FM, but it is also webcast and podcast so you can listen to it anytime you like. For the webcast, times for the broadcast in other cities and to sign up for the podcast, visit our website.
