Believe it or not, it is nearly time for our annual progress edition – already. Although, Horizons 2009 will not publish until February, we have begun the work of 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 work of the year. We have to start so early, 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 hear that there is too much negative news or bad news in the newspaper. Horizons is a chance for you to read good, positive news about the city you live in and the people you know or see in Suffolk.

This year our plans for Horizons are extensive. As in years past we will have a number of editions, including:

Health Care

Calendar

Industry

Business/Commerce

Suffolk Living

Education

Volunteerism

Communities

This year, you will see an update on the status of our downtown area, along with stories on what’s happening in North Suffolk and throughout the grand 400-plus square miles of our city.

And this year, realizing the status of our economy, we’ve created some early-bird specials for our customers, which are aimed at providing each business the most bang for its hard-earned buck.

Inside Horizons 2009, there will be stories from every corner of our coverage area, from Whaleyville to Holland to Churchland to Chuckatuck and everywhere in between.

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, we want our readers to love our progress edition and our advertisers, whether retail or institutional, to be glad they were a part of it.