| New features for
a New Year
Happy
New Year! To help you celebrate, Virginia Business is
adding several regular features with this issue.
First,
we are launching a new news section called “Around
the Old Dominion,” which will feature short news,
updates and trend pieces from all parts of the commonwealth.
This will give us a chance to handle news that may not
have enough heft to merit a full-length story but is
significant nonetheless. Honchoed by Senior Editor Bob
Burke, the section will start out with two pages and
may grow to three as time goes on. We will, of course,
keep our popular Minding Your Business section that
deals with briefs of a more off-beat nature.
Secondly,
we’re launching a “Virginia Lifestyles”
section towards the back of the book that will focus
on luxury items that business executives might want
to purchase. This supplements our regular “Virginia
Weekend” section that deals with places to go and
things to do. Our Lifestyles page will look at everything
from fast cars to hot grills to home theaters.
Plus,
we are upgrading our monthly “Regional Reports.”
Some, such as this month’s peek at Arlington and
Alexandria, will have editorial reports plus special
advertising sections. One new feature that will deal
with all of them in the future will be a special page
of a region’s specific statistics, such as income,
education levels and unemployment. The Old Dominion
is quite a varied place, and this approach should give
you useful data for planning.
Also
in this issue, we are running our annual General Assembly
section that includes a profile of House Speaker-designate
Bill Howell. The centerpiece is an interview with Gov.
Mark R. Warner after nearly a year in office. It’s
been a rough time, with the budget crisis, sniper attacks,
drought and other mishaps, Warner told Publisher Doug
Forshey, Managing Editor Paula C. Squires and me during
a 45-minute interview at the State Capitol.
Warner,
who is unusual for a Virginia governor because he comes
from a completely business background, told us that
he sees the current gloom as a good time to rebuild
and re-prioritize. In our interview, he said he wants
Virginians to participate in a statewide debate on what
they really want from their state government and what
they are willing to pay for. There are other things
that could be on the table sooner than expected, such
as letting a Virginia governor serve longer than just
one term at a time, thus giving him or her enough time
to implement lasting policies.
One
obvious area for considering what residents want and
what they are willing to pay for is in education. Our
cover story is a probing look at what the budget cuts
are doing to higher education by Paula. I think it’s
the best and most comprehensive account by any Virginia
publication yet on what the cuts mean to students, the
business community and parents.
So,
we hope you enjoy our New Year’s celebration.
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to Virginia Business - January 2003
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