Believe it or not, it is time for our annual progress edition – already.

Although Horizons 2007 will not publish until February, we have begun gathering information for news stories and selling advertising space to our customers. The advertising staff began knocking on doors a few weeks ago, and now the news staff is setting up appointments for some great stories and features that are sure to grace the pages of this year’s edition.

The work of this edition begins in November, because we work hard to make this our best edition of the year. We have to start now, because it is also our largest edition of the year.

But, honestly, it’s the most rewarding work we do all year long. In the newspaper industry, we are often the &uot;whipping boy&uot; of the community, and often times hear that there is too much negative news or bad news in the newspaper. Horizons is an edition of nothing but good, positive news about the city you live in and the people you know, live by or see moving about in Suffolk.

This year our plans for the progress edition are extensive. As in years past we will have a number of sections, including:

* Health Care

* Calendar

* Industry

* Business/Commerce

* Suffolk Living

* Education

* Volunteerism

* Citizen of the Year

A few of the stories that you will see in this year’s edition are an update on our downtown area, what’s happening in North Suffolk, a profile of the Nansemond-Suffolk Historical Society, stories on our public schools, a feature or two on Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and much more.

There will also be opportunities for advertisers who buy quarter-page ads or larger to submit their own copy and be part of the edition as well.

We are going to have stories from every corner of our coverage area, from Whaleyville and Churchland, Chuckatuck and other smaller communities. We hope to find the stories in our communities that are begging to be told. And our goal is to tell you those stories in an interesting, informative and comprehensive way.

Simply put, our goal is that you love our progress edition and that our advertisers, whether retail or institutional, will be glad they were a part of it.

jesse.lindsey@suffolknewsherald.com

The Horizons edition theme this year is &uot;Suffolk – Open for business.&uot; That’s the truth in its most simplistic form. In this last year, Suffolk has seen tremendous growth, and its doors are certainly open for business. From downtown merchants to new and expanding businesses, they are all open for business.