Reporter's Notebook

Paul Leonard can be reached at pleonard@vbjusa.com

Fare thee well

As many of you have already heard, this week will be my last as Managing Editor of the Vancouver Business Journal.

Like all “lasts,” this one triggers two diametrically-opposed impulses: an urge to look ahead to the future while simultaneously taking stock of the past. However, for the interest of clarity, I am forced to take each impulse separately, starting with the future.

In my absence, the coming weeks and months are set to be exciting ones for the VBJ.

On Oct. 29, the first issue of VBJ’s Women In Business Directory, building on the growing role of women in every aspect of the regional economy, will hit newsstands and subscriber mailboxes. In November, the VBJ will again honor our Accomplished & Under 40, introducing new names and faces to the growing number of talented professionals which make up Southwest Washington’s business community. And as the Holidays draw near, readers can expect VBJ’s Health Resource Guide and Book of Lists to again guide them through the year ahead.

Now, on a more melancholy note – at least for me – we come to the past.

To begin at the beginning, I would like to thank VBJ publisher John McDonagh and business manager Steve McDonagh for entrusting the editorial duties of their paper (some might say their “baby”) to an unknown New Yorker with a mercurial temperament and a somewhat off-putting habit of blurting out whatever comes to mind, regardless of the situation.

Next I would like to give my sincerest appreciation to the small, yet incredibly dedicated VBJ staff, who often work long hours to put out not only a quality newspaper every week, but a quarterly magazine, numerous special publications and events as well.

And last, but certainly not least, I’d like to thank our readers. Your countless helpful suggestions, news tips and yes, even your complaints, have been my privilege to receive.

As VBJ’s staff prepares for Thursday’s Top Projects awards at Washington State University-Vancouver, I am reminded of last year’s event held in July 2009 – officially my second day on the job. I remember feeling somewhere nervous at first, stumbling to connect unfamiliar names and faces, not knowing what the next weeks, months and year would bring.

Tomorrow I look forward to quite another experience, celebrating the achievements of people I’ve been lucky enough to call friends, colleagues and sources, perhaps for the last time.