This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ Summer Conference, conveniently taking place right around the corner from us in Wilmington, N.C. 

While I was there, I was able to pick the brains of leaders at larger business publications, meet other publishers and editors, collect ideas and get validation that some of the recent additions to the Journal have been on the right track. I was also able to longingly gaze out at the ocean, painstakingly viewable from every single room of our hotel. 

In one of the first keynote speeches I attended, a phrase stood out that now defines how my team and I work: “A stubborn consistency in pursuing our vision.” And it’s true. The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal is one of the youngest publications in Cumberland County, and oftentimes, we can be seen as the underdog. We have a small but mighty team, and we are dedicated to continuing to provide some of the only consistent, good news coming from this area.

We will continue to work smarter, not harder, in our coverage — expanding our networks and providing news of growth, development and positive changes throughout our coverage area.

We hope you enjoy this special issue focused on downtown developments. Our cover story highlights Main Street America, a downtown development program taking root in several communities in our coverage area. We also feature an exciting new downtown award event from Cool Spring Downtown District (page 11), as well as new downtown Fayetteville relocations from Critical Path Solutions LLC (page 10) and ERA Strother Real Estate (page 14). 

And as always, we are excited to host our upcoming Power Breakfast event (see page 5) and hope to see you there!