Company town

The April issue of Governing magazine, which covers state and local governments, features an interesting article about company towns.  Company towns are those in which one industry dominates the local economy.  The main employer in Peoria, Illinois, is Caterpillar, which employes 16,700 full and part-time workers.  In Dayton, Ohio, the Wright Patterson Air Force Base employes 27,000.

I know about this first hand.  For many years Palmerton, Pennsylvania, was dominated by the New Jersey Zinc Company of Pennsylvania.  (That was its full name.)  My grandfather, seven uncles, and three aunts worked at the Zinc.  I had a summer job myself (Oxide powder, East Plant).  

One big problem is when the dominant industry moves, downsizes, or closes.  Flint, Michigan, once had 80,000 workers employed by G.M.  Now G.M. has a workforce in Flint of 7,000.  Flint’s city government is broke.

The second problem is when the dominant industry (let’s say PenCor in Palmerton, the new dominant industry) wants a favor from the municipality (let’s say to build a huge building on the main street in the commercial area, along with tearing down houses to provide parking for workers), the local government officials are under the gun.  They need that employer.  They can’t afford to have that company move to another town.  

The best strategy is to diversify, but in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, a town is lucky to attract any industry.