MPTV program to feature Carthage professor

The Milwaukee Public Television program 4th Street Forum will travel to Carthage on Wednesday, Oct. 13, to film a panel discussion for an upcoming episode. Four panelists, including Carthage professor Arthur Cyr, will discuss regional economic development for an episode of the program titled "Packers, Bears, and the Good Life: Regional Problems and Solutions."

The forum will be held at noon Oct. 13 in the A. W. Clausen Center for World Business. The program will be broadcast at 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, and 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, on Channel 10.1.

4th Street Forum is a nonpartisan program that promotes public discussion of political and social issues that concern the community. The program holds town hall meetings each week, September through May, for later broadcast on television. Each week, a panel of experts discusses a topic, explores possible solutions and answers questions from the studio audience.

Enrique Figueroa, Ph.D., will moderate the Oct. 13 forum. Dr. Figueroa is director of the Roberto Hernandez Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The panelists are:

Arthur Cyr, Ph.D., director of the A. W. Clausen Center for World Business at Carthage, and the former president of the Chicago World Trade Center. He holds the A.W. and Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professorship of Political Economy and World Business at Carthage.

Laura Dresser, Ph.D., labor economist and associate director for the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and lead author of "The State of Working Wisconsin," released Labor Day 2010. Her public policy research includes the Wisconsin economy, low-wage work, and workforce development.

Paul O'Connor, communications director for Chicago Metropolis 2010, a nonprofit organization that addresses regional concerns like job sprawl, affordable housing, transportation, and unequal access to education. He is a senior consultant at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs for the Global Midwest Forum, and former executive director of World Business Chicago.

Don Sykes, executive director of Milwaukee Workforce Development, and former senior executive service manager with the U.S. Department of Human Service. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett described him as a "nationally recognized leader in workforce and economic development."

In addition to its broadcasts on Channel 10.1, 4th Street Forum can be watched online after a program airs, or on Time Warner Cable’s Wisconsin On Demand Channel, channel 1111. All programs are also available through the Milwaukee County Federated Library System.