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Progressive Flint by Flint Chamber of Commerce – Rostie Publishing
Progressive Flint is a short Chamber-of-Commerce promotional guide aimed at business leaders, prospective industrial investors, civic boosters, and visitors. Its intent is to present Flint as a modern, growing, and business-friendly city — emphasizing industrial capacity, labor resources, transportation links, civic institutions, and recreational facilities to attract investment, conventions, and skilled workers.
The tone is upbeat and boosterish: civic-pride language, statistical claims presented as selling points, and repeated emphasis on Flint’s industrial prominence (especially in automobile and automotive-supplier production). The pamphlet is promotional rather than scholarly — designed to help local business and civic leaders “sell” the city.
Industrial profile — Lists principal industries and manufacturers (Buick, Chevrolet/Fisher Body, AC Spark Plug and other automotive plants and suppliers), production capacities, and the economic value of local output. It highlights the extraordinary concentration of motor-vehicle employment in Genesee County.
Labor & wages — Gives figures on the size and composition of the industrial labor force and notes Flint’s relatively high industrial-wage employment compared with other U.S. cities.
Transportation & access — Describes rail and road links, proximity to Detroit and other markets, and local facilities that make Flint logistically attractive.
Civic institutions & services — Summaries of schools, hospitals (e.g., Hurley), parks (Kearsley Park, Flint Park), churches, and cultural amenities that support a “good community” for workers and families.
Statistics & charts — Tabular statistics and quick facts (population, bank deposits, values of products, numbers of wage earners) intended to give a snapshot that supports the booster narrative. Recreation / quality of life — Short sections on parks, public spaces, and local attractions to reassure newcomers and visiting delegations.
The pamphlet appears in the context of the late-1920s/early-1930s economic cycle: Flint’s preeminence as an auto-industry center, local civic planning efforts, and later New Deal/WPA planning projects. Local historical reports and National Register documentation reference Progressive Flint as one of the Chamber’s promotional publications used by planners and historians to reconstruct the city’s self-presentation in that era.