In 2007 the central Iowa town of Newton mourned the closing of the Maytag appliance factory that had been the economic anchor of the community for more than a century. Only a month later, local officials happily announced that TPI Composites, a producer of blades for giant wind-energy turbines, had chosen Newton as the location for a new 500-worker production facility. The announcement was important enough for Gov. Chet Culver to make an appearance and declare: "Today is a new day and a hopeful day for Newton." Defying the odds, the town was reversing the deindustrialization that has devastated so many U.S. communities.