As any business owner will tell you, employees make a business successful. I couldn’t agree more, and I’m here to tell you I am fortunate enough to have one of the best groups of employees an employer could ever wish for.
I harken back a couple of years to COVID, when Fauci and his minions demanded that many of us close up shop. My crews never wavered. We published a newspaper every week without fail, despite suppliers and advertisers being few and far between.
I think about all the times we lost power at one or several offices. Each time, the crew re-located or figured out a way to keep their computers humming so that the newspaper would be published. Ordinary workers might have just left, went home, and not be concerned whether the newspaper was published or not. My employees are not ordinary, they are extraordinary.
Sure they make mistakes. Don’t we all? Sometimes we miss getting a story or ad in the newspaper. Sometimes our proofreading isn’t up to snuff. Sometimes in our haste we fail to deliver to a certain subscriber or delivery stop. But overall, I’m proud that we do our best to keep those mistakes to a minimum. I’m proud that we care enough to learn from those mistakes.
To this day I keep adding more work to their proverbial plates, and no one ever complains. They know the more successful the organization is, the more secure their job is. These employees aren’t making an arm and a leg. Quite the contrary, they work because of the self-satisfaction they receive producing a product that thousands of friends and neighbors enjoy.
So here’s to the employees of Wilcox Newspapers. I salute each and every one of you. Thanks for providing me with the tools we need to provide the news to the many diverse communities we service.
AND WHILE I’M DISHING OUT PRAISE, I would like to offer my appreciation to the thousands of loyal readers and advertisers we publish the news and advertising to each week. Obviously without you we wouldn’t be in business and would not employ the dozens of people working for the ten publications under the Wilcox Newspapers umbrella.
Again I point to recent history when I asked to readers to voluntarily contribute to their local newspaper during COVID. Dozens of you did, and I can’t tell you how much we appreciated your donations and how it sustained the newspapers through a difficult time.
Community newspapers, despite what you might hear or read, do have a special place in the hearts and minds of many readers. You have been told that we are an artform that has run its course and that the internet and social media are viable and better replacements, but I am here to tell you that is not the case.
I believe that because I am on the phone or email all day long with readers and advertisers who wish to interact. They take the time out of their busy days to contact us about a myriad of situations. Some days it is non-stop. For that we are most appreciative.
What can I say I am a very lucky businessman- I have the best employees and readers and I thank the Lord each and every day for both.