ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on four regions that chose to do just that - 'Bet on the Basics'. During the 1970s and 1980s, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Buffalo all crafted strategies that focused primarily on the retention and expansion of manufacturing firms. It begins by briefly introducing the regions, their economies, and the processes by which they crafted their response. The Detroit Regional Chamber is the main regional business organization and one of the largest and most powerful chambers of commerce in the country. Like the other regions that ultimately chose to 'Bet on the Basics', the Milwaukee region was originally settled as a strategic transportation site due to its waterfront location. Cleveland's early rise to prominence as a center of industry revolved around its strategic location at the nexus of the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie. In Buffalo, 'Betting on the Basics' felt a little less like a choice and more like an inevitable fate.
