Reporter's Notebook

--Charity Thompson can be reached at cthompson@vbjusa.com

T.G.I.S(PRING)

The sun was out this morning, birds were chirping and Breaking Ground announcements were coming in at my desk. After months of rain and recession, I only have one thing to say: Thank God it’s spring!

On our website, the VBJ has a form where contractors can submit announcements of new projects. We try to run them in the paper once a month in our Design and Construction focus section. Since the economy started going south in early 2008, we have run 22 Breaking Ground announcements – about two per month.

In the last week or so, I received five entries.

What is going on, people? All of this good news in the midst of an economic storm – in the construction industry, no less?

I would love to know the reasoning behind it. Are contractors just making a point of getting the word out now, or is there actually an increase in work? How long have these projects been in the pipeline, and what do they mean for our workforce? I have many questions about this, so send me your insights.

While you’re at it, take a few moments to fill out our web form. It gives us (and our readers) a gauge of the industry’s climate and it also gives you an automatic nomination for the VBJ’s Top Projects Awards, which are coming up this summer.

Speaking of spring, yesterday was Roy Sonney’s 79th birthday. He founded Yard ‘n’ Garden Land in Hazel Dell and walks a mile and a half to the nursery every day to see how things are going with his sons and grandchildren, who still work the business. If you stop by this spring and see a handsome gentleman drinking a cup o’ Joe, it’s probably Roy, and he probably has a joke or some sage wisdom on business or gardening to share.