Change, for better or worse, is in the air

October 27th, 2008 at 06:35pm Annette LaCross

Published Oct. 13:

After the hubbub of the past few weeks, as Wall Street and the world’s financial markets convulsed, I have to admit, I’ve been nostalgic for the good old days.

Say, a year ago.

When Rock River Valley residents were getting a little nervous because the price of a gallon of gas was inching close to $3. Or watching as the local real estate market took a little tumble. Almost overnight. A “market correction,” or so everyone thought.

Sadly, they were right.

Make no mistake, however: The market hasn’t even begun to correct itself. It will, without question. But if you’ve just driven off a cliff, it’s darn near impossible to correct all your bad driving habits before you hit the ground.

Who could have known that the little tumble in the local housing market would become one of the grandest gymnastics displays in modern history? Who knew it would have snowballed into the situation in which find ourselves today?

I’d argue — in fact, I have, as you already know, Faithful Reader — that somebody could have.

I recognize the danger in regulating private businesses. And generally, I’m against it.

Unfortunately, all of us now recognize the danger when Wall Street moguls are allowed to act like the children running roughshod in Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory. And I’d argue, in this case, it wouldn’t be regulating. Let’s name it correctly: baby-sitting.

To be fair, the damage incurred by Wall Street and the global financial markets was years in the making. Even if someone had taken a closer look at Wall Street’s account books a year ago, we’d still be in the pinch we are today.

The world’s finances, in other words, amount to a ship that’s just too cumbersome to turn quickly. It’s a pity, in retrospect, that you and I are paying more than $800 billion for a steerage cabin on the Titanic. After it sank.

Smaller enterprises, on the other hand, are a great deal more agile. It’s one of the greatest strengths I’ve noticed among Rock River Valley companies: the willingness to see danger — or opportunity — approaching and either get out of the way or hang on for the ride.

I most humbly submit, for inclusion in the latter category, the magazine you are holding in your hands.

A year ago, the Register Star embarked on an ambitious project to inform, acquaint and connect businesspeople throughout the Rock River Valley.

I wasn’t the business editor at the time, so the headaches and upsets that invariably accompany the launch of a new publication were, happily, someone else’s job.

I showed up six months later, when the weekly magazine, BusinessRockford.com, and its sister Web site were revving on all cylinders. It was an impressive production. At least I was impressed.

The information contained in its pages represented the best of the business world in the Rock River Valley: who was winning, who was losing, who was moving up, who was moving on. My respect for local businesses was earned because of what I learned in the magazine’s pages.

And now, a year into it, we’re making a few changes. And, not to show up Wall Street or anything, we’re expanding.

You’ll find more business news in each issue — but with the same sharp focus on the Rock River Valley. We’ve grown our audience, so the magazine will be distributed free to 20,000 readers through direct mail, home delivery and retail outlets.

You may not be familiar with it. Yet. But I have every confidence you will be.

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