With the way the economy has been vacillating, it appears we’re coming out of recession very slowly, showing rebounds here and there—then it seems we go one step forward and two steps backward, two forward and one back again.

There are many different perspectives on what needs to be done. Economic development experts will tell us that we need new businesses to come into our community.  Entrepreneurs will say that a few of us have to start great companies and make more money, putting it back into the economy. At the end of the day, no matter whose perspective we have, it’s actually about jobs.

If most people in a given society have jobs, they are happier, things go better, there is spendable money in the money cycle and people prosper. Life is better for all when people are employed. Have you ever been without a job?  I have; fortunately it wasn’t for very long, but the feeling was so empty it was unbelievable, and the worry about tomorrow was scary. How was I going to support my family? How would I continue to live the same lifestyle?  Certainly, if you are unemployed, you start trimming back, budgeting more carefully, and that cash cycle is affected.

We do need jobs, which is why we felt it important to visit this topic this month. As you look through the magazine, you will find that here in the Greater Lansing area we are doing a great deal toward matching the unemployed with employment. And that’s not necessarily an easy task. I have been saying for some time that we don’t have an unemployment problem so much as a problem of matching jobseekers’ skills with employment opportunities. There are many ways in which local experts are attacking that imbalance, and we show you some here. Plaudits to all those working so diligently and creatively to deal with this important process.

It’s beginning to move in the right direction, creating progress by not only job creation but also by working to educate and match the people looking for those jobs. Take heart…by reading this issue you’ll begin to feel better about the plans for jobs and employees in this community.

As always, we wish you a prosperous day and a more prosperous tomorrow.

		Chris Holman Publisher