When driving around the county, you can see vacant properties where vibrant businesses once thrived.

However, as the economy eroded several years ago, those companies either moved to other locations or closed all together.

Fast forward to now and it is clear the county is taking a step forward with economic development efforts at some of these locations. These include the Ninth Street project and The Point.

Several Lawrence County organizations are responsible for this growth.

There is no reason Lawrence County and the Tri-State cannot be a regional leader once again in manufacturing or virtually any other industry.

The land is available, but the leaders will need to continue to push for improvements and provide new businesses with a vision and reason to invest in our communities.

Each community within Lawrence County and the Tri-State should create a plan to grow, both socially and economically.

This responsibility does not fall solely on the leaders of the community, but residents as well. The business aspect is only one part of the equation, as companies want to move to locations where their employees can flourish.

Each city, township, and village needs to provide these companies with a clear explanation of the vision for the future.

With that level of commitment the future will be brighter than ever.