I recognize that I have written on this subject before and I also recognize that few people have the same passion I have for supporting local businesses.  Perhaps my passion comes from the time and place I grew up in.  In my youth the town we lived in had a population of about 20,000 people.  In addition to the residents of the community the local economy was also supported by the residents of a few even smaller nearby communities and ranches.  We called these folks the “Saturday Shoppers” because they came to town on Saturdays to make their purchases. 

Last month the title of my Leader-Press article was “What Do We Do”.  I hope I was able to answer the question in a way that was understandable and added clarity to the economic development work that the Board of Directors and the staff do day in and day out.  This month I’d like to continue the theme I established last month by writing about a subject directly connected to “What Do We Do.”

A “most often” question asked of us by the general public is: What do you do? Not an easy question to answer while you are in an elevator, standing in line at the DMV or post office, or even at the coffee shop. It is also a difficult question to answer while I am at Aunt Imelda’s having Thanksgiving dinner and everyone is waiting for me to tell them just exactly what is it that I do for a living.

So with your permission, let me use this month’s space to answer the question in a little bit more detail than usual. Of course, you can always contact us and we’ll try to fill in the empty spaces.

Happy Belated New Year!!! Although by the time this column is published we will be about three weeks or so into 2012, I still think sending you our best wishes at this time is very appropriate.

Peggy and I are big on traditions. We love to start and continue practices that bring us together as a family and hopefully create memories in the minds of our children. One of the traditions Peggy started quite a few years ago was to read a Christmas story to the children every night starting on December 1 and finishing up on the night before Santa’s arrival. Reading time was always followed by hot chocolate and something sweet to munch on.

Why do companies relocate to another community?  We at the Copperas Cove EDC have to be able to accurately answer that question because a part of our mission is to attract investors and employers to our community.  And then we have to make sure we prepare ourselves and the community for the business relocation opportunities that will come our way.  Some of those opportunities we create; some are created for us by others.