Coffee Break: Great things lie ahead for SBJ, local businesses

The new year is upon us. It's time to review the year now past, to reinvest in the things that work, reinvent those that don't and rededicate ourselves to our goals.

Resolutions

One of my resolutions last year was to quit smoking ... again. And as of Jan. 1, 2001, I celebrate one year as a nonsmoker.

Another resolution I made last year was to advance in my career and to make more money. As of a few weeks ago, I am editor of the Business Journal, one of the most respected news sources in southwest Missouri. And, needless to say, with the job came a nice raise in salary.

Among my resolutions for 2001 is to make the Business Journal my own: to give it a fresh, vital, up-to-the-minute feel in its writing and reporting; to add to its tradition of in-depth coverage of the issues, events and people that drive the economic powerhouse that is Springfield; and to give perspective to the city's and the region's phenomenal growth, and the issues it generates.

In the year ahead, SBJ readers will experience a reinvented Business Journal Web site, including a searchable archive; new special sections including a focus on the area's largest public companies; and outstanding special products and events, such as our 40 Under 40, Economic Impact and Women in Business awards.

Review

Looking back, the year 2000 was something of an anticlimax.

We did not achieve many of the wonders that I envisioned as a first-grader, contemplating an impossibly distant year 2000 more than 20 years in the future. My vision was ofhigh-tech world of space travel, personal hovercraft and clean, shining cities free of pollution.

Yet, in some areas, we did achieve all that I anticipated hand-held personal communications devices like on "Star Trek," laser surgery and everyone working on computers.

Of course, by the time 2000 rolled around, these wonders were commonplace. We take them for granted now, but imagine how our compact, digital, global society would seem to the children we were, had we been magically transported from that time to this.

We have come farther than we think; we will go farther than we imagine.

The future

Enter 2001. Keir Dullea is nowhere in sight, yet the legacy of HAL the computer remains, echoed in the performance of the inflated tech-stock market.

Continuous high returns on investment? "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

We take into the new year the lesson of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and a thousand other science fiction parables technology has limitations.

What lies ahead? That depends on the nation's leadership. However, if the economy continues to slow but remains strong, a couple of things are likely to happen.

Those who have based their plans, projections, borrowing and investing on the idea that they could ride the runaway train of an economy forever might encounter a reality check on the scale of "The Wreck of the Old 97" found in the wreck, hand on the throttle, scalded to death by the steam.

But for those who have reaped the benefits of the booming economy while maintaining the caution and skepticism that prudence dictates, the future will continue to offer a fast, efficient and scenic ride to prosperity.

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year!

(Clarissa French is the editor of the Springfield Business Journal.)