This week’s Business Press is our last issue for 2017 and we print it while brimming with enthusiasm for 2018. That’s because we turn 30 next year and each week we will be celebrating the milestone.
I often mention that I have owned this newspaper company three times and I say it with a smile because there is irony in buying and selling and then buying back a business.
Truth is, I keep coming back because I still love the business of journalism and still believe in the good it can do in a community. More and more these days I am committed to weekly or biweekly publishing in print, and to daily – often hourly – online news reporting and updates. Our AM and PM newsletters continue to grow so rapidly we can barely keep up with the demand.
We announced recently that we acquired a national magazine company and just last week delivered our first Fort Worth edition of SmartCEO. We have magazines now in 10 cities and will add several more in 2018. Print is not dead, not in our eyes. But these days print needs to be a piece of a larger media pie and that is why we have expanded and branched out.
We plan to capitalize on our expertise in producing events and expand those services to outside customers next year. We are launching an audio-visual company and we’ll be producing video for everything from annual reports to employee training films.
I keep coming back to the Fort Worth Business Press for another reason. I love Fort Worth. There is no better city in the country for business and no better state than Texas. We expect to grow and evolve right along with this great city.
Today, there are a number of young professionals driving new businesses and change in our community. We want to stand alongside them and promote entrepreneurship and growth, especially in the tech industry.
As we look back at the 30-year history of the Business Press in the coming weeks and months, we will also look ahead at new trends in business and at those who will be the new leaders. While other media properties are shrinking, we are expanding our vision and our horizons.
Our editorial in this edition speaks to the state of our nation and the government in Washington but its optimism goes beyond politics.
“This country and its people have always risen to whatever challenges confronted us,” the editorial asserts, “and we will continue to do so.”
Those words apply to Fort Worth as well and we are confident that our city and our region are ready to take on the future, no matter what the challenges.
Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Happy New Year. See you in 2018.
Richard Connor is president and publisher of the Fort Worth Business Press. Contact him at rconnor@bizpress.net