Well, we have all been in this “new normal” for about a month and half now, and nobody really knows when life – and business in particular – will return to something that even slightly resembles the “old normal.” What we do know, and maybe some are learning again or for the first time, is that Business is Life … the ability to produce something of value for others in our community, to provide for our families and the families of our employees, to make our community a better place to live – all of this stems from having a vibrant and healthy business community.
For nearly 16 years it has been our pleasure to serve the business community in SW Washington. Here at the VBJ, our staff continues to cover and report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic while everyone (except me) works from home – or their parents’ home, or sometimes in their car so the person on the other end of the Zoom call can’t hear their kids.
It has been more than a decade and a half since we bought the VBJ. During that time, we have reported on the comings and goings of businesses, new managers, changes in political leaders, promotions, business mergers and exciting innovations, and even what now seems eons ago, the challenges of the Great Recession. We continue that reporting now, highlighting what’s working and what’s not during the unprecedented effects of the global pandemic, and providing information and resources for the business community as we navigate these truly unique and uncertain times.
The media game was a challenging landscape before the pandemic hit, and publications like the Vancouver Business Journal were striving to adapt and adjust to the ever-changing news media’s position in our society. Believing, along with our readers and local business leaders that SW Washington deserves its own business publication, we have worked diligently in the years coming out of the Great Recession to adjust our model from both the income and expense side of the business.
During this period of COVID-19 we continue to pivot and make adjustments to our content (still LOCAL), timing, and delivery of news and information to our business community. You will find everything we are producing online at www.vbjusa.com.
We are committed to continuing our coverage and our efforts to support the local business community for as long as the community continues its support of us financially, and by reading the VBJ. If you are committed to maintaining a Voice for Business in SW Washington, here are ways you can support our efforts:
- Make a donation of support.
- Advertise on our website – email Irene at ipettengill@vbjusa.com.
- Become a strategic partner – email Steve at smcdonagh@vbjusa.com or John at jmcdonagh@vbjusa.com.
- Submit press releases and other items of interest to the business community to our Managing Editor Joanna Yorke so we can keep everyone informed – email jyorke@vbjusa.com.
- Follow the VBJ on Facebook and support the businesses that are supporting the VBJ in these tough times.
Steve McDonagh & John McDonagh
VBJ Associate Publishers
