Lexington, KY - What is Lexington doing to bring jobs to the city? What are the business and economic implications of local, state and federal policies? And how about covering more controversial topics?
These are just a few of the many suggestions offered in responses to Business Lexington's first online reader survey, conducted in conjunction with our 5th anniversary as a "Partner in Progress" with the business communities of Lexington and the central Kentucky region.
From the 345 responses we received, we learned first and foremost that our readers can't get enough small business profiles. By our count, we've published 301 since our first edition in May 6, 2005 - an average of two per edition. But we enjoy telling the stories of local businesses: what they do, how they do it and who gets it done. So we plan to work hard to bring you even more - profiles of new businesses, in particular - as we know that what happens in the startup phase is critical to getting a business up on its own two feet.
Survey respondents also asked for more articles on a wide variety of topics, including technology, education, health care and the environment. We have published 160 articles on a broad range of subjects related to technology, and 88 pieces about the city's burgeoning and highly competitive health care sector, but we can do better.
We've assigned contributing writer Dan Dickson to focus his efforts on commercialized research with a particular emphasis on developments in the fields of science, technology and engineering. Dan is also watching our considerable academic community for research outcomes that have the potential for commercialization - projects that might attract investment in the creation of quality jobs in the central Kentucky region.
Columnist Jane Shropshire is keeping us abreast of developments in that engine of research and intellectual capital, higher education, while Campbell Wood is following not only local environmental issues that intersect with business, but also profiling companies that engage in "green" practices or are in the business of providing "green" services.
Vicki Pettus joined us in March to focus exclusively on the myriad issues related to health care, an enormous component of the regional economy and a highly significant influence on local culture as the industry attracts major talents from around the nation and globe.
Some readers told us they want to better understand the business and economic implications of local government policy decisions. Reporter Emily Burton recently signed on to cover the activities of the Urban County government and council and you will be reading her observations in future editions.
Quite a few respondents called for more coverage of arts and entertainment. We're on it. Ide Bouldin, Chris Huskisson and Zoe Strecker are keeping their eyes on the encouraging stirrings of growth in the Lexington arts scene. William Gillespie and Erik Rust are covering entertainment, which involves more than having a great time, with study after study indicating the sector is a quality-of-life factor that is key to the attraction of 21st century talent, as well as more, bigger, and higher-dollar meetings and conventions.
We especially appreciate the time devoted by many to critique what we've been doing, letting us know what they'd like to see less of in our pages. One anonymous respondent offered that they could use less "national business issues not focused on Lexington" - which kind of puzzled us. The number of non-locally focused articles written by news services or syndicated columnists that have appeared in Business Lexington is zero.
BizLex is strictly locally owned and locally written. Go figure.
A number of you hope we'll focus less on "the old guard" and more on young, upcoming entrepreneurs in our midst. We hear that, and we respect the value of a multitude of generational perspectives. We believe there must be room for them all, but we agree that it's important to highlight the new ideas, creativity and innovative thinking of younger members of our adult community. In fact, we've even dipped into the teen generation, featuring an excellent series on financial literacy by Henry Clay High School senior Jay Schrader.
One respondent could do with fewer "self-promoting 'info' columns." That point provides an opportunity to explain how this works.
Business Lexington is one of the three publications produced by Smiley Pete Publishing Co. Our full-time staff of three (including, in addition to me, Features Editor Susan Baniak and reporter and Weekly Wire editor Erik Carlson) shares arts and sales resources with Chevy Chaser and Southsider magazines. While the three of us do contribute regularly to the content of Business Lexington, we must rely on our sizable community of writers for most of what you find in our pages.
As a result of this, we have discovered something pretty delightful about Lexington: it's a smart city that understands its business. Our writers are knowledgeable about their industries, and perhaps more importantly, they know what matters locally and how the larger issues can affect our central Kentucky audience. They understand this is not a forum to sell their personal products or services directly. They write about the issues, challenges and the successes in their respective fields as they relate to our local business community and, in the process, they demonstrate to our readers their highly valued knowledge and power of observation. Scores have responded to this opportunity, as shown by our staff box. We value their contributions, and based on the majority of our feedback, so do our readers.
As for controversy, we do touch on difficult topics from time to time. The downtown Centrepointe project is a prime example of what has become a politicized and divisive issue for Lexington. But really, don't you get enough negativity and controversy elsewhere? Our thought is to offer you a non-partisan, fact-based respite from all of the angst, finger-pointing and chaos that consumes so much of the energies and time of modern media.
All in all, the survey responses yielded hundreds of suggestions and complaints, and while there is not enough space here to comment on each, we did absorb all.
We hope you will make it a point to bookmark our website, www.bizlex.com and sign up for the Weekly Wire, an online "mini" Business Lexington that we put together and e-mail straight to your inbox just before lunch every Tuesday. We invite your comments on our articles, columns, editorials and OpEds, and be sure to take advantage of BizBriefs, a user-submitted feature that lets you post your press releases and other updates on our site.
On a personal note, in a 42-year career in media and news that has included stints with the Associated Press in Washington and ABC News and Paul Harvey News in New York, I can honestly say that I've enjoyed nothing more than the experience of overseeing the production of this independent bi-weekly.
Broadcast network newsrooms are supercharged, challenging, interesting places to apply your talents. But they also are aloof places, by and large. By their very nature, they are disengaged from the amalgam of nuances and ironies - reality - that you come to know only after living and working in and with a community for many years.
We appreciate your readership and support, as well as your opinion.
Just one final note to all who shared their opinions: Thank you for making Lexington such a great city to cover, for adding your voice to the local community dialogue that we sincerely strive for this publication to share, and for trusting that your ideas will make a difference.