The news that IBM will be opening a technology support center here in central Missouri, creating more than 800 jobs with an average salary of $55,000 each, is certainly great news for our region. Mid-Missouri has a higher than historic unemployment rate, and many of those individuals are highly skilled workers who have lost well-paying positions due to plant closings, down-sizing, out-sourcing and the overall economic malais. We can only hope that they will find new opportunities with the big business soon to be our neighbor here in Boone County.

The even better news, at least from our perspective, is that this renewed earning power will enhance the spending power of mid-Missouri workers, and that’s great news for the area’s small businesses. As more disposable income enters our marketplace, we can also hope that it spawns healthier bottom lines for our region’s entrepreneurs. After all, it is these firms that give our community its color, diversity, fabric and interest — the qualities that attract a big concern like IBM in the first place and keep it here for the long haul.

Better days are here again — for all of us!!!