New Site to Help Midwest Compete and Thrive in Global Era Is Launched

CHICAGO, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Chicago Council on Global
Affairs on Monday launched a new Web site, globalmidwest.org , and blog, The
Midwesterner, to connect individuals in the Midwest who are developing
regional responses to today's global challenges. Part of the Council's Global
Midwest Initiative, the site includes a calendar of events, links to critical
reports covering global issues affecting the Midwest, and a database of
experts and organizations undertaking work on key Midwest issues such as
agriculture, economic development, energy, and transportation.

The Global Midwest Initiative and globalmidwest.org emerged from ideas first
suggested in Richard C. Longworth's 2008 book Caught in the Middle: America's
Heartland in the Age of Globalism. Longworth, a Chicago Council senior fellow
and former Chicago Tribune correspondent, is The Midwesterner's lead blogger
and serves as its editor.

"While Chicago seems to be thriving in a global era, much of the broader
Midwestern region continues to struggle with the transition from an industrial
past to a global future," says Longworth. "What the Midwest needs, is a
regional approach -- new alliances that reach across state lines between
cities, businesses, workers, and universities to set a regional agenda and
find regional solutions to the economic and political challenges of this new
era."

Rachel Bronson, Chicago Council vice president of programs and studies,
demonstrated globalmidwest.org on Monday at "A Green Midwest, A Blue Midwest,"
the Council's second annual conference to discuss key challenges facing the
region and recommendations for how to best position the Midwest for success in
a global era.

"We hope this website proves a powerful vehicle to connect the best thinking
on a global Midwest," said Bronson.

Dallas Tonsanger, U.S. Department of Agriculture under secretary of rural
development, and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn delivered keynote addresses at
the conference. Tonsanger discussed the Midwest's role in the national
energy-climate debate, and Gov. Quinn, discussed ways to enhance regional
cooperation for a green-blue future. Audio files of their remarks and other
conference panels will soon be available on globalmidwest.org.

Also available on globalmidwest.org are the Council's Heartland Papers, a new
monograph series of original research that delves deeply into the challenges
and opportunities of globalization for the Midwest, and Global Midwest Policy
Briefs, short, timely briefs that offer policymakers recommendations for
addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing the Midwest.

Global Midwest Policy Briefs, Heartland Papers, the annual Globalization and
the Midwest Conference, globalmidwest.org , and The Midwesterner blog all are
part of the Council's Global Midwest Initiative. The initiative, launched in
October 2008, is a regional effort to promote interstate dialogue and to serve
as a resource for those interested in the Midwest's ability to navigate
today's global landscape.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, founded in 1922, is a prominent,
independent and nonpartisan organization committed to influencing the
discourse on global issues through contributions to opinion and policy
formation, leadership dialogue, and public learning. Long known for studies of
American public opinion on foreign policy, the Council is expanding its
contributions to discussions of critical global issues through studies, task
force reports, special initiatives, and conferences. Learn more at
thechicagocouncil.org.

SOURCE The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Samantha Skinner Monroe of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs,
+1-312-821-7507, sskinner@thechicagocouncil.org