Lead to Succeed - Don Ryan

In this episode of Lead to Succeed, host Steve Arwood welcomes longtime broadcaster and newly retired host of The Ryan Report, Don Ryan, for a conversation shaped by decades of watching the Upper Peninsula grow, change, and meet new challenges. Don reflects on the U.P.’s long-standing population challenge, the role entrepreneurs and natural resource industries have played in building the regional economy, and why building even greater awareness of the U.P.’s strengths is part of the region’s future.

Learn more about InvestUP at https://www.investupmi.com. Connect with us on social media at https://www.linkedin.com/company/invest-up-mi/. 

Transcript

Steve Arwood   12:56
Well, welcome to another edition of Lead to Succeed, and I'm pleased today to have Don Ryan, the long time but newly retired host of the Ryan Report. I don't feel like I really need to introduce you because I think anybody that's watching.

Don   13:04
OK.
I agree.

Steve Arwood   13:13
Our podcast has probably watched you for many, many years, but it's wonderful to have somebody of your stature on the show with your long time influence in history and the activities of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. So welcome.

Don   13:20
It's very nice to be here, although normally my job is to ask questions, not to answer them, so we'll see how that works out.

Steve Arwood   13:37
Well, I'm pretty good on my feet. So if you want to test me at any point in time, you certainly can. You know, one of the things I think is interesting is that you have been involved in the Upper Peninsula in both the private and public sector, both media and corporate, for what looks like all the way back to 1957. And I don't want that to sound like an eon or an epoch or whatever, but there's a long time.

Steve Arwood   14:09
And that's gotta, you know, create some really unique experiences. And I'm wondering maybe if we could just talk about the things you've seen over the years and starting with what, what is the most interesting thing or things?
You covered it in that period of time or you were involved in that period of time.

Don   14:26
Well, you know, whenever you say the most interesting thing, you know when you've been around for as long as I have, there have been a lot of interesting things that happened. So it kind of depends on you know where we want to go with this as far as being involved with Upper Michigan.

Don   14:50
And activities that are designed to promote development of the UP. Well, I would say one of the really interesting things was the formation of the Lake Superior Community Partnership. I was really pleased to be part of the team. Led by Father Coppo, who put that organization together and it's gone through a lot of changes over the years. But you know, it was really an effort of bringing together the Ishweming Chamber, the Marquette Chamber and a group called the Lake Superior Jobs Coalition.
And so I would say that would certainly be something that was an important development that I was proud to be part of.

Steve Arwood   15:34
Was that Don, if I remember right, was that kind of in response to the closure of Ki Sawyer and how you know how the area would transform given the loss of the military or was that what was the genesis there of that?

Don   15:51
Well, you're right, although the initial Lake Superior Jobs Coalition was formed back in the early 80s when the iron mining industry was going through some difficult times. In fact, the iron mines here were closed for.

Steve Arwood   16:02
Mhm.

Don   16:06
For a number of months, 1982 and Father Coppo helped to bring this group together, which we called the Lake Superior Jobs Coalition and did a lot of work. He wound up going to Washington.
The concern was at that time steel imports that were affecting the iron ore and steel industries. So that's where that was the real genesis of the group and we went kind of dormant for a while.

Steve Arwood   16:32
Mhm.

Don   16:40
But then when Ki Sawyer was going to close the group was reactivated I guess you could say and and so that led to the formation of the Lake Superior Community Partnership.

Steve Arwood   16:45
Yeah.
What were some of the strangest stories you covered over the course of the time? I know you know anybody that's been in the business as long as you have probably run into a lot of really interesting or maybe somewhat strange stories.

Don   17:15
Awesome.

Steve Arwood   17:17
Boys, could you talk a little bit about those?

Don   17:19
Well, hopefully there weren't any strange stories. Hopefully they were. They were all good stories. I think what might surprise some people, including me, was the fact that although my focus was very much on politics and government economic development, I really enjoyed the number of interviews I had.

Steve Arwood   17:34
Mm.

Don   17:39
From the world of sports and interviewing some interesting people like Ernie Harwell, who was the longtime Detroit Tiger broadcaster. There were just a number of people. Nick Baumgartner, but one of the more interesting stories I had.

Steve Arwood   17:42
Mm.
Yeah.

Don   17:56
And some may remember this, but there was a downhill skier named Peekaboo St. and she won an Olympic gold medal and she was being inducted into the Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming and she was going to be here. And so I was able to line up to have her come in and be on the show.

Steve Arwood   18:01
Yeah.
Mhm.

Don   18:16
And some people said, well, she's a little difficult to deal with. So you may have, you know, you may have a difficult time. And so I really wanted to prepare. And she had, she had written a book and I actually went out and found the book and read the book before the show.
So I would be able to develop the questions I needed to interview her and she's turned out to be just great. She was wonderful to talk to. She was not a problem. But I think the fact that I prepared for it and she just had some had a great story to tell. So that 's why I've always pointed that out as one of the more.

Steve Arwood   18:40
Mhm.

Don   18:50
Unusual interviews I had because it wasn't about the government, it wasn't about business, but it was about someone who did it all in the world of sports, a gold medal Olympic athlete. And she just had a very interesting story to tell.

Steve Arwood   18:55
3D.

Don   19:05
We had another kind of interesting one. I was doing sports on radio back in the 50s, early 60s, and so I was watching the TV 6 News one night and they told a story about Clyde Lavellet.
Who was on the Munising City Commission. And I thought, wait a minute, Clyde Lavella, that's an unusual name. And I remember that from my sports days, that he was an outstanding basketball player. I thought he can't be the same guy in Munising. And so I called him and he said, yeah, I'm, I'm the guy.

Steve Arwood   19:33
Mhm.

Don   19:40
And he was actually kind of the first big man in basketball. He was the first guy to win both, not both, but to win an NCAA championship, an Olympic championship and an NBA championship. And for a long time, he was the.

Steve Arwood   20:02
Hmm.
Lies are small.
Yeah, good. Yeah.

Don   20:15
Interesting people.

Steve Arwood   20:16
Yeah.
From your world of interviewing statewide and local elected officials, who was, who was your best interview? I mean who who? I mean just in the history of those conversations, who do you think?

Don   20:17
And
I

Steve Arwood   20:36
It was one of your better interviews for issues in the day, so to speak.

Don   20:44
Well, you know, I really enjoyed interviewing all of our legislators and certainly Tom Casperson was one of those people. When we started the show, I met with the TV 6 general manager, Broadband Sliders.
And said here, here's what I'm thinking. You know, we cover the political scene, the government scene, but you know, we try to do it, give people 15 seconds to answer key questions. And it's just the way the business works. And we could do something different. We could give these people a chance to come in and tell their story and why they were voting the way they were, why they were taking positions on certain issues. So it really helped create, I guess, the mission of the show. But people like Tom Casperson certainly were. One of those that I enjoyed, he was on my second show, actually on my first show. My very first show was Governor Granholm, and it was a unique situation. We were putting the, you know, getting the show on the air for the first time.
And I heard that she was going to be in Marquette. So I contacted her staff and they said, oh, she's really kind of booked up, but maybe we can fit you in. We can squeeze you in if you can meet her at the mining journal. And so I did and I.

Don   22:08
Did an interview at the Mining Journal. And so she was on my very first show. But you know, the governors are all interesting. Rick Snyder, now Gretchen Whitmer, certainly Carl Levin. Senator Carl Levin was a very interesting guy. Congressman Bart Stupak, you know, interesting in that. In a seat that's been held by Republicans most of the time, he's served as a Democrat for a long time, so.

Steve Arwood   22:34
When you think back it is through all your years of observing the UP and let's talk about economic development for a second. Is there a particular challenge for the peninsula that just continues to emerge in the conversations or give me a sense of how you've either said OK in your mind you go? You know, I've observed this for years and we really need to focus on this. Or are there other things when you think about long-term economic viability of the Upper Peninsula?

Don   23:06

Well, the one thing I've loved to point out to people is if you looked at the census for the past century and some have said what do you think the population has been? And if you said 300,000 you'd you'd be right because the population hasn't varied far from from.
300,000 over the whole century. In fact, I believe that the population was higher in 1910, slightly higher than it is now. So I think that, I think that, you know, if you look at how the state has grown.

Steve Arwood   23:36
Yeah.
I believe you're correct.

Don   23:52
How the nation has grown and we've just stayed and and we've not only stayed at that number, the population has gotten older, which you know is a sign that we're probably not going to grow unless we do some things to make that happen.

Don   24:07
So I would say that's certainly one of the really key things. The other thing I've observed is that we talk about economic development and growth. I think there are a lot of organizations that are working for that including Invest UP, which does a great job.
But growth doesn't come from organizations. It doesn't come from the government. You know, it comes from people doing things. And many times those organizations or governments can help remove roadblocks or. Help to help to make them happen. But you really need, in my view, most of our economic development has occurred because of natural resources or because of entrepreneurs coming up with ideas and starting businesses and making them successful and that's really what it takes. And over the years I've had a chance to interview a lot of those people and it's just interesting that they were able to do all the things they did to grow and to grow a business here in the Upper Peninsula.

Steve Arwood   25:06
And I think longer term, the challenge with some of this growth that I'm seeing particularly in some of the new technologies, things that are coming out of Michigan Tech and some of the things that are happening around Marcut, I think the longer term, I mean the growth will be there. How do we keep them there I think you know and keep their particular ecosystem strong. So they're not looking to go out elsewhere for you know what they need. Yeah, we've got a governor's race coming up and you've probably interviewed some of the candidates for governor.

Don   25:37
Right.

Steve Arwood   25:48
But what? What do you do? What's your advice for a governor, a governor seeking to be governor, somebody running for governor, that's that's looking at the landscape of the Upper Peninsula. What? What?

Steve Arwood   26:04
If you were to step back and say, here's what you need to know about this region, what do you tell these folks?

Don   26:14
Well, I think that you know that the people of this region are very independent, you know and and and they want to know that the person seeking to represent them is someone who really has that ability and who is straightforward and you know who will deliver on the promises they make. I think that's really important. I think there are a lot of people, you know, and today we have different points of view of course on things, but there are still a lot of people who see the value of the natural resource industries and. You know, developing policies and programs that will allow them to grow as we have over the years. So I'm not, I'm not sure it's my job to advise the politicians. So I don't have, maybe I don't have the right answer to your question, but.

Steve Arwood   26:58
Well, I was just giving you some license here to reflect and think and say, you know, here, here are three or four, three or four things that are important to the Upper Peninsula as I see it.

Don   27:13
Yeah.

Don   27:26
Well, I think you know we really have to focus on how we can make this region grow. I think we have to deal with issues and you know we have had the last couple of years kind of a focus on the state of Michigan and the need for population growth.

Don   27:46
There's a lot of different theories on what leads to that. You know, I for one think you have to have jobs, but I think you need more than that. We've learned that nowadays people want to have communities where they want to live, you know, and that includes housing, it includes recreation, it includes a lot of other things.

Don   28:05
So I  think they want to be sure that whoever they elect to office is able to deliver on those promises.

Steve Arwood   28:14
Do you think we're as a group of economic development organizations in the UP, whether it's investors or others, are we doing enough to tell the story about the Upper Peninsula outside of the state of Michigan? Are we, I mean in terms of attracting talent, in terms of attracting?
You know, jobs in terms of attracting wealth, are we doing enough or should we be telling a bigger story to a larger audience that's looking for a better quality of life or something like what we have in the year period?

Don   28:41
Yeah, I think they have to understand what the benefits the UP offers. You know, to some people it's a cold, snowy place and it is that, you know, but those of us who live here realize it's also a sunny, warm place sometimes too.
Sometimes too, and it just has so much more to offer in terms of the natural environment and the outdoor environment and the things that people have. So yeah, I think we have to do more to tell people what the UP is all about.

Steve Arwood   29:09
Mhm. The thought that you're winding down but winding back up, you said that you are, you are retired from the Ryan report, but you're going to do some other things. Can you tell us what those other things are going forward?

Don   29:29
Well, when I did the Ryan report for the last 11 years, I used to conclude the show with a closing thought. They varied all over the map, from late and humorous to serious. And invariably when I would talk to people, they enjoyed the show. I enjoyed the interviews, but every once in a while someone would say, but I really like your closing thoughts. And I did some that were very unique, I don't know. But one I wrote, for example, was kind of a poem about. I called it the man from Trenary who ran into a lot of trouble when Marquette opened all their roundabouts and.
He could not find his way around, so. It was. It got a tremendous reaction. And then I wound up writing a few more men from Trenary stories on the lighter side. I also did one once about the size of toilet paper and the story was that I brought. We bought some toilet paper one day. I came home and I put it on the shelf and I thought, well, wait a minute, this doesn't match up with the stuff we have. And it turns out they made the rolls smaller. And if by doing a little bit of Internet research, they had everybody they decided. I forget the dimensions now.

Steve Arwood   30:49
Good.

Don   30:59
Going from 5 inches to 4 to 4 1/2 inches. So I had some fun with that, including saying, you know, we're not, we're not getting any smaller. Why is our toilet paper getting smaller? So you know, we try to have fun. So anyway.

Steve Arwood   31:04
Good.

Don   31:31
TV 6 Plus or some things like that, some feature interviews, just casual conversations.

Steve Arwood   31:33
Yeah, yeah.
That sounds great.
Any thoughts about putting it all down on paper, what the last several decades means? Or are you not a writer of the long form?

Don   31:50
Well.
I am in a sense that I did write a I think it was about 90,000 word autobiography for my family.

Steve Arwood   32:03
Mm-hmm.

Don   32:05
Which covered a lot of territory from my early family to me. I've written all these closing thoughts and I've saved those, but I don't have any plan to publish them at this point, so but.
No, I don't. I don't think I'll. I don't think I'll have the energy to do a complete story about my career. I can tell you this.

Steve Arwood   32:28
Yeah.

Don   32:32
When I was a little kid, this was probably.
9-10 years old. I wanted to be a radio announcer. And you have to understand that back in those days there was no TV, at least in the out pencil. So the radio was very big. And so I had this dream and I would.

Steve Arwood   32:45
Mm-hmm.

Don   32:53
I would go and hang around the radio station and watch the announcers do their thing. And so eventually when I was a sophomore in high school, I got a job as a part-time radio announcer and then I continued in radio and worked for four or five years and.
Local radio stations and that finally opened the door for me to go to work at TV 6 back in 1965. And I think that has always been the case.
Been part of my life, you know, I think that led me into involvement with the local economic development group of the Chamber of Commerce, got me involved in the Chamber of Commerce, got me involved in other things. And so they've all kind of fit together. And when I started the Ryan report, I think what really helped me, you know, was I had a background in media. I had a background in industry with Cleveland Cliffs. You know, I had a background in government working for Phil Ruby. I had a background in local government having served on the Ishpeming School Board and the City of Marquette City Commission. So, you know, having those experiences really puts you in a position to be able to bring in people who can talk about those things and be able to answer the questions. So I think in that sense, my life has worked out well, you know this.

Steve Arwood   34:20
OK.

Don   34:23
The little kid wanted to be a radio announcer and it all progressed from one thing to the other and kind of made it all possible.

Steve Arwood   34:32
Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to have a little conversation with us. And I know that anybody that is in the Upper Peninsula and dialed into your various stations and outlets is going to appreciate not only what you've done, but the fact that you're going to be around doing a little bit more because you certainly have been. A steady and a great voice for the folks up there. So Don, have a wonderful afternoon. It was a pleasure to talk to you and all the best.

Don   35:02
OK. Thanks very much. It's been a pleasure talking with you and answering the questions instead of asking them.

Steve Arwood   35:06
Well, if you ever want to just ask questions, you can go right ahead. But you have a great day. All right, take care.

Don   35:13
OK. All right. Thanks. Bye.