A year ago, I set up shop in perhaps the most optimistic place in town – the offices of the Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation (BPCDC). In tough economic times, this was the place where the glass is always viewed as “half-full.” I have to keep that in mind when I tell you that this is my last day as editor of Belle Plaine Now.com.
They say you need to take chances to make anything good happen. About 15 months ago, a couple members of the BPCDC board approached me with an idea of creating an avenue for local news. The thought was that there’s enough happening in Belle Plaine that we really needed a news source devoted exclusively to what’s happening in our city. The first thought of printing a weekly newspaper was quickly discarded due to the ever-rising costs of newsprint and other associated printing costs. Besides, although I had more than 30 years of experience in the weekly newspaper game, I know that more and more people are growing impatient to receive their news. We live in a 24-hour news cycle, especially with national news, so why should local news take a back seat?
The BPCDC Board quickly embraced the concept, although I suspect some of the more conservative business people had their doubts. The site was launched with considerable fanfare and with one employee – me. I had little doubt I could find at least one story to post each weekday. Selling advertising in this economy was another matter.
But the initial response from local business people was wonderful. Most of the ads you see on our site represent business people who have been with us since the beginning.
Besides the financial support of those first advertisers, we received considerable moral support from folks who began to log onto our site in more and more numbers. I heard from people who lived far from Belle Plaine who still had an interest in what was happening in their home town. They began to rely on this site to keep them informed with local city and school news, local sports, obituaries, etc.
Unfortunately, while the news continued to flow, the ad prospects began to dwindle. Numerous attempts to add local advertisers fell short as we became more and more aware that the tough economy we are all facing individually is reflected in local business. Numerous attempts to convince regional and national advertisers to come on board did not bring results.
So after just over a year on line, the board made the tough decision to pare back expenses and eliminate the editor’s position, throwing yours truly into the growing ranks of the unemployed.
Quite often when an employee is separated from his work, there are hard feelings. Nothing could be further from the truth in this case. I was never really good at business, but the financial reality of the situation was impossible not to see. In order for the BPCDC to continue with its vital mission of bringing business to our city and the administer the wonderful Main Street Iowa program, some tough choices had to be made.
Online delivery of local news will increase over the coming months and years. At some point, advertisers who have relied on print ads will realize this. In fact, one the first ads I sold was to a local business whose owner said he knew the internet the coming thing.
So I still believe in online local news. I also believe in Belle Plaine. If my next career takes me back home to the Davenport area, I might be the only guy in Scott County walking around wearing a Belle Plaine Plainsman t-shirt. But if anybody asks me where Belle Plaine is, I will be glad to tell them. It’s a place full of great people who are excited about the future of their town.
Several months ago, as many of us began meeting to map out the future of this town, we were in a constant battle with a small group of people called “Cave people.” I recently heard a definition for cave people, “citizens against virtually everything.” As the months have passed and more local folks have seen the progress being made, the number of cave people in our town seems to be falling.
People are excited about the new aquatics center opening next month, about the new additions to our school buildings that will mean an enhanced learning environment for all of our children. Every day, people stop by this office to look at the designs for the streetscape project. Local officials hope to begin construction before the end of this construction season. Once completed, our downtown will be totally transformed and should be a place many people will want to come to shop and meet their friends.
I leave this position today with no bitterness, some sadness and a lot of appreciation to the people of the BPCDC board that had the courage and the foresight to give this venture a try. They hope to continue this site with the help of volunteers, so if you have some time and some interest, be sure to stop by and volunteer to keep this site going.