November 15, 2013 - Daily Circuit host Tom Weber and MPR reporter Jennifer Vogel present an MPR Special “Rethinking a Company Town." The border town of International Falls lost 265 jobs at its mainstay paper mill on the Rainy River. It was an economic blow that is forcing the city to examine whether it can or should forge a future different from its past.
December 27, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Tom Robertson reports on how Anderson Fabrics in Blackduck, Minnesota is looking for immigrants to solve a labor shortage problem. After a failed attempt with Hmong employees due to a culture clash, company hopes to find a solution in the Twin Cities Latino community. Nearly 40 Latino workers moved from the Twin Cities to Blackduck in the fall of 2004. Blackduck school and community leaders are now bracing for what's expected to be a wave of Latino families.