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The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check Wally's Three Star Leadership Letter

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Every week, reporters around the country write great business stories that don't make it onto your screen or into your local paper. And every week I scour newspapers around the country to identify five of those great stories to enrich your weekend reading. This week I'm pointing you to stories about a school that places almost all its graduates, the Amish going global, buying local, a possible hostile bid for America's biggest brewery, and Herb Kelleher and the airline business.

From the Boston Globe: Shipping out with offer in tow
"Administrators at the school, located at the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzards Bay, attribute the success to a wide range of factors: A regimented curriculum that amounts to four years of hands-on job training, aggressive networking with employers by the career services department, and an active alumni network. Combined, they help the school place students in positions most of their peers at traditional colleges would envy. Students are also required to participate in two to three co-op jobs, depending on their major, and more than half of those co-ops result in job offers."

Wally's Comment: Read this to discover how one school is doing right by its graduates and the employers who hire them. Then sit back and think about what you can look for in excellent candidates.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: Old World Amish craftsmen seek global market in Cleveland
"The Amish furniture makers want to go global. Hill and his colleague, Dan Cuffaro of the Cleveland Institute of Art, have a launching pad -- their plan for a District of Design, featuring consumer-product showrooms and design studios radiating from Playhouse Square."

Wally's Comment: You know that globalization is real when the Amish of Northern Ohio, with addresses like "Star Route" and steam power for the machine tools in their blacksmith shops are thinking about selling their products around the world.

From the Washington Post: Value, Virtue Close to Home
"Buying local food is in vogue, but for some the concept still has a whiff of elitism: Yuppies handing over $12 for a few morel mushrooms at a farmers market or lining up for $5 artisan bread. But with food and gas prices climbing, local food is turning out to be not just more healthful and flavorful. It also could be cheaper. That's why this month nonprofit DC Central Kitchen began buying much of its produce from farmers in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. The cost is 50 to 70 percent less than it would pay a national wholesaler. It also creates a new, profitable market for local farmers."

Wally's Comment: To thrive, a business needs to be in a healthy ecosystem. This nonprofit is finding out that it does best helping keep the local ecosystem strong.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: InBev reportedly preparing bid for Anheuser-Busch
"On a bright afternoon last month, August Busch IV and thousands of Anheuser-Busch Cos. employees met outside the packaging plant on Pestalozzi Street to celebrate the anniversary of Prohibition's demise in 1933."We gotta get this toast going here!" said the company's chief executive, holding up a bottle of Budweiser. "Here's to our future … and another 75 fantastic years. Let's go get 'em!" But seven weeks later, a bigger competitor may be out to get Anheuser-Busch."

Wally's Comment: No matter how big you are, you can't be sure that there isn't a bigger beast out there contemplating how great you'll taste for dinner.

From the New York Times: The Sinatra of Southwest Feels the Love
"The Dallas-Fort Worth area is home to two of the country’s biggest airlines, American and Southwest, and for years, they’ve both held their annual meetings on the same day. This year was no exception: Wednesday was the big day."

Wally's Comment: Joe Nocera is one of my favorite business columnists. This is a great post with contrasts between Southwest and American Airlines, insightful analysis of the airline industry and homage to Herb Kelleher whom I blogged about in "Eulogy in a corporate boardroom."

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.