Ed Semmler, the business editor of the South Bend Tribune in Indiana since 1999, is stepping down into a part-time role at the newspaper.
Semmler writes, “I like to think I have some perspective on how far this region has come economically. After all, I’ve been the Tribune’s business editor since 1999.
“In that time, I’ve directed most of the newspaper’s coverage as we endured the dot-com bubble, the housing bubble and the Great Recession, not to mention the steady decline in manufacturing jobs that has challenged working towns throughout the Midwest.
“In the years leading up to the Great Recession, much of the positive news had to do with the expansion of retail on the north side of Mishawaka and to a lesser extent on the south side of South Bend. The RV industry in Elkhart County was chugging along.
“Then everything changed and politicians used the region — specifically Elkhart County — as an example of what was wrong with America. Crazy ideas for electric vehicles were embraced, and quickly failed, as political leaders became desperate to get the negative spotlight off the region.”
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