Community Profiles mark renewed regional emphasis

As readers peruse this week's Business Journal, they will encounter a feature called Community Profiles, detailing information about various southwest Missouri communities. Additional profiles are in the works and will appear with the Real Estate issue of Aug. 13. Data for the profiles was provided by representatives of the cities themselves and is, to the best of their and our knowledge, the most recent information available.

The profiles are a revival of a feature originally presented in SBJ's Market Fact Book, a publication produced in the 1990s detailing not only community growth and city amenities, but local business assistance programs, enterprise zones, airport locations and services, construction and lending activity, real estate sales data, etc.

The Fact Book was a goldmine of information, but because of the intensive effort required in information gathering and editing, sales and production for the publication, the Fact Book was discontinued to allow staff to focus their efforts on the weekly Business Journal.

In this issue, with the Community Profiles, we revisit a good idea that was, perhaps, a little before its time. More such revivals are in store. And with this issue of SBJ, we rededicate ourselves to the phrase that appears as part of our banner each week: "Serving Southwest Missouri."

In future editions, readers can expect better, more in-depth coverage of southwest Missouri's communities, their businesses, their growth and their challenges.

In this week's issue, we also unveil our new Economic Growth & Development logo, designed by SBJ Design Editor Bruce Helm. Look for this new graphic in future issues as a guidepost to news about regional growth and development.

Meanwhile, if you have suggestions, criticisms or concerns regarding SBJ coverage of area business, I would be happy to hear from you. Call me at 417-831-3238, fax me at 417-831-5478 or e-mail me at cfrench@sbj.net.

And thank you for reading!