Revelling in our independence.

• Author: Atkins, Michael
• Position: PRESIDENT'S NOTE

We revel in our independence. Northern Ontario Business is one of the last independent regional business newspapers in the country. Actually, we were also one of the first. We are celebrating our 25th anniversary. Additionally we are celebrating our 20th anniversary of the Northern Ontario Business Awards program. There has been a lot of water under the bridge in the last quarter century and it is hard to know where to begin. We started out believing the North needed a voice: a publication that would celebrate community building, wealth creation and a spirit of private enterprise in Northern Ontario. We weren't then, and we aren't now shy about giving our opinions about the body politic and advocating for the things we believe are important for Northerners.

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It would be silly to suggest all of this has been an easy road for us or Northern Ontario. The truth is that it is always a struggle to do business in Northern Ontario, which offers up short periods of prosperity fueled by commodity prices, followed by years of adjustment fueled by commodity prices. Today it's the time for mineral communities and not the time for forestry communities.

The truth is that because we have a huge land mass, a modest population and an economy vastly different than southern Ontario we have an extraordinarily difficult time being heard, much less listened to. The challenge today, as it was 25 years ago is to build sustainable communities inside what is essentially an unsustainable economic model.

At Northern Ontario Business we believe it is up to the business community to lead this fight and in many locales they are doing just that.

The challenge for the North is not much different to our own challenge at NOB. We need to innovate monthly, reinvent ourselves yearly, work twice as hard as our colleagues in growing markets, and as we get older build a succession plan that keeps our dreams alive and passed on to the...