A new sense of optimism

The past few weeks have been wonderful as I get more settled in the community and have the opportunity to meet people throughout our county. Last week, I attended the successful Phillips County Economic Development annual meeting, while the week before I attended, along with roughly 100 community members, the annual Emerald Awards recognition program at the Peerless Theatre. I love the excitement and engagement these events bring from individuals and businesses.

In my first month in Holyoke, people have welcomed me with open arms and educated me on the past and future economic potential for our area. As we dive into spring and summer as a community, take pride in welcoming new individuals and businesses and supporting all of our local merchants. We all play an important part in marketing an optimistic welcoming community to visitors, friends and family. From new startup businesses to multigeneration successes such as Scholl Oil, all businesses are critical to the daily vitality and stability of our local economy.

With a concerted individual and community effort, let’s embrace this optimistic time of graduations and local business growth with the strategic vision of doing more than what’s expected and by providing the best community and business environment for our residents, visitors, families and children.

Frank Perea II

Publisher, Holyoke Enterprise