Viewpoint: Making the leap

Liz Engel Clark
Wednesday, Nov 2, 2011

“Change is good."

“Change is inevitable."

“Don’t fear change.”

Whether considered mantras or commonly-used cliches, these three phrases have fit my last few weeks to a tee. In late September, I took over the editor reins here at the Cumberland Business Journal, leaving behind the Herald-Citizen and the only full-time job I’ve ever called home.

But unlike our former editor Greg Little, who packed up a U-Haul for a near cross-country move to Pennsylvania, I hardly changed zip codes. Cookeville has been my base for many, many years, but I’m excited to get out and explore the rest of the Upper Cumberland region more in depth.

In fact, that’s the main reason I took this job -– I will be able to shake things up and tell the stories that aren’t told otherwise, to analyze the trends that are driving businesses in our county, community and region.

Sure, times are still tough for many. September’s national economic forecast was the worst in three years, unemployment is still above 9 percent in every Upper Cumberland county, and it could be 2013 before any significant gains are realized in the state, according to a recent University of Tennessee study. But there are still positive success stories lying just beneath the surface.

And to tell those stories, I will be working with the business owners, workers, government officials and chamber leaders involved in the day-to-day. I hope to reach out to our other readers as well, to get ideas on how the CBJ can be a better resource for them as they stay up-to-date on the latest trends, happenings and news that is unique to our area.

If you’ve ever been in my shoes before, you know that making a career move isn’t always easy: there are the unknowns, the what-ifs, the grasses that aren’t always greener. But, as you can see, I voted to make the leap. And in just a few short weeks, I’m already seeing the bigger picture.

Change is also an inevitable part of business – gas prices, health care and technology, just to name a few, seem to be in a constant state of flux. But if we work together, we can ease that transition and watch the Upper Cumberland business community emerge stronger than ever from the recent recession and its lingering effects.