Once again I want to say a big Thank You to all the businesses that advertised this year in our annual Progress Edition, which was published on March 27.

We had 108 pages in the edition this year and it was filled with positive stories about the great progress that our community has made in the past year. I hear from readers all the time about what a pleasure it is to sit down and read the Progress Edition and to find out how many great things are happening in our community.

We have been recognized in the past by the Michigan Press Association as being an award-winning special section. This section would not be possible if it were not for the great support from our advertisers.

We provide extra sections to businesses that are trying to recruit people to move to the area. You won’t find a better, more comprehensive product to inform people about what the central Upper Peninsula has to offer than the Progress Edition.

If you are a business recruiting employees from outside the area and need extra copies of the Progress Edition, please contact our circulation department and we will get extra copies to you.

I also want to thank the Mining Journal staff for all the hard work that goes into producing this once-a-year special section. Along with their normal duties it is a real challenge to produce an additional 108-page section.

The Mining Journal staff did an excellent job on this year’s edition and I want to give a sincere thank you to all of them for their hard work. I also want to thank our independent contractor newspaper carriers for doing a great job in delivering this product.

We give advance warning to carriers to seek extra help on the day of delivery of the Progress Edition. This is the single largest edition that we publish all year and that means a lot of extra weight for the carriers.

There is a lot to be optimistic about for the future of the central Upper Peninsula and much of that is included in the Progress Edition. It is a virtual who’s who of local businesses.

Many local businesses of significance are represented in the 2019 edition. We were happy to showcase those businesses in the special section.

I know there is a lot to read and it is hard to get through the section in one day, but we encourage everyone to peruse through each section so they can also feel good about the impact all the positive things that are happening locally will have on the future of our area.

I also want to encourage you to keep the section around for when family and friends visit the area so you can brag about what a great place you live in.

Thanks again to the advertisers in the section and also to our subscribers for your support of The Mining Journal. We take a lot of pride in producing the Progress edition once a year and without your support the section would not be possible.

Editor’s note: Jim Reevs is publisher of The Mining Journal.