Take part in a discussion on the future

On Thursday evening, Sauk Valley Community College and Sauk Valley Media will host a community discussion about the Midwest’s future.

We cordially invite you to attend.

Our editorial board has looked forward to such a public discussion since the fall, when we encouraged local folks to read a particular book, “Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism” by Richard C. Longworth.

The book is a well-researched, thoughtful and critical look at the Midwest – what it was, is, and could be.

Our interest is particularly in the “could be” part. What can people of good will, working together, do to rejuvenate the Midwest’s economy in general, and the Sauk Valley’s in particular?

What can be done to promote the rebuilding of a Midwestern economic edifice whose twin pillars of manufacturing and agriculture have seen such massive changes because of globalization?

We partnered with Sauk Valley Community College to plan a Sauk Valley Symposium on the SVCC campus, and we invited Longworth to travel from Chicago to speak here at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, preceded by a 5:30 p.m. reception.

We also invited community leaders in business, manufacturing, agriculture, government, economic development and education to participate in a panel discussion after Longworth’s address.

The symposium should provide plenty of food for thought for those who attend. As Longworth wrote, “I hope the evening becomes a conversation about the future.”

So do we.

We look forward to seeing you there.