There it was again. Albert Lea is a blue-collar union town, much like the Iron Range up north, right? A member of the Tribune Editorial Board was asked that question when out of town this weekend. In the conversation, the asker seemed to imply that our city was unfriendly to corporate interests.

Can Albert Lea ever shake this reputation it earned because of some strike 48 years ago at a meatpacking plant it doesn&8217;t even have anymore?

Yes, it can. Here is how:

Ramp up our tourism. We mean big-time, too. Nothing changes a reputation faster.

Get people to visit us. This should be our No. 1 priority. Our festivals need to grow, and our recreational amenities need to grow.

Let people see for themselves what a great city this is. Make them wish they lived here.

The results will be:

&8212; Albert Lea gains a new reputation for tourism, much like Clear Lake, Iowa, or Lake City here in Minnesota. We can continue to expand our industrial parks at the same time.

&8212; Albert Lea&8217;s reputation as a nice place to live gets even better. This will bolster our housing market. Everybody&8217;s home value goes up (money in everyone&8217;s pockets). A rising tide floats all boats.

&8212; Corporations are impressed with how welcoming our city is. Recruitment gets one step easier.

&8212; Local merchants see a boost in revenue, particularly when big events draw lots of people.

To get there, we need to expand our festivals. Every county has a fair and every city has a Fourth of July festival. We can&8217;t really expand those to out-of-town tourists. We need something other places don&8217;t have.

We have Eddie Cochran Weekend.

Fifties in February attracts people from the Twin Cities to Clear Lake because it advertises and publicizes the event there. The Low Bucks Car Club does a great job with the car show aspect of Eddie Cochran Weekend &8212; the drive-in movie was a nice touch &8212; but perhaps other organizations with deeper pockets could piggyback on the car club&8217;s efforts. There should more more music, and let&8217;s attract tourists from the metro area, Sioux Falls, Mankato, Rochester and other cities to pay for it.

There should be so much to enjoy in Albert Lea that weekend that no one person can get to all the activities. We can surely outdo tiny Lanesboro&8217;s Rhubarb Festival.

It wouldn&8217;t hurt to come up with a single, big specialized event in Albert Lea &8212; something other cities don&8217;t have. Think large like tiny Hayward, Wis., does. Shoot for 10,000 people in attendance, even if it takes five or 10 years to get there. Ask, &8220;What will get people from the Twin Cities to visit scenic Albert Lea for a weekend?&8221;

We also need to expand our permanent attractions, too. We need to provoke the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to expand the Blazing Star Trail. (What&8217;s taking so long?) We need to encourage commerce on the lakeshores &8212; restaurants, boat rental, gift shops. In true tourist towns, people ride boats and snowmobiles to the places they eat.

We need to support the Shell Rock River Watershed District&8217;s cleanup efforts, because the sooner Interstate 35 motorists notice skiers and sailboats on that lake, the better it is for our reputation.

We have the new Main Street lampposts touting Albert Lea, but we need a decorative sign with an arrow at Exit 11 that outright says: &8220;Downtown Albert Lea that way.&8221;

We need to advertise &8212; and publicize &8212; our city&8217;s attractions and events in other markets, particularly the Twin Cities. Magazines might be a good start.

You can see we have the potential. We even have some momentum. It is high time we earn a new reputation.