Sixteen years but no longer counting

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!

We have climbed that mountain and now we are winding down after a 16-year run. It's been an incredible experience but it's time for us to go - to pass on the torch to others in the media who still see that bright light at the end of the tunnel…hopefully it's not a train.

When we began this adventure in February 1994, we had one child in Grade 9 and one in Grade 8; now, one is married and the other about to be. They might still be our children, but they have also grown into wonderful, confident and supportive adults. And this all seemed to happen while their parents struggled to keep a business afloat. I'm not sure if it was watching us work long and sometimes lonely hours year-after-year that gave them both a strong work ethic, or the rather stingy compensation we allowed ourselves that urged them to strive for better; it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that regardless of whether or not we may have robbed them of our time, it did not hurt them in the long run; their lives are full and rich with everything that is important.

When our first full issue hit the stands in April 1994, Jean Chrétien was Prime Minister and Bob Rae was Premier of Ontario and the early-1990s recession hadn't quite ended. The Reform Party and Bloc Quebecois had become major players on the federal scene. Ontario was yet to experience the horrors of the Mike Harris years and I would face the threat of an unwarranted libel suit by one of his MPPs; very unnerving at the time. Running your own business is not for the faint-hearted - especially a newspaper business, which has its own unique set of problems.

Unfortunately, we never qualified for any financial support from the then Heritage Canada Magazine Fund, a federal agency that gave out millions of dollars to thousands of publications. Many of the recipients were both questionable and bizarre. Even after all these years, and with new rules in place, we still don't qualify. Something about not having a staple in our spine or rewarding format not content! A little support would have helped in these rather grim economic times.

Anyway, knowing what we know now, would we do this all over again? We have asked ourselves that many times. The consensus seems to be that we would. I loved editing my own paper and having the freedom to write my opinions every month, some quite popular, others - not so much. Even hate mail is acceptable since this is a democracy. As long as people don't become sleazy in their attacks, as they tend to do on blogs these days, I say, as George W said before me: "Bring it on."

I had the chance to work with some wonderful writers. They helped make my job far more enjoyable. We managed to gather together an impressive selection of columnists and we are grateful for their support and input. Our greatest thanks must go to our advertisers, especially those who have been loyal to us year after year. Without them, The Business Executive would have disappeared long ago. Thank you for putting your faith in our paper and supporting us for so many years.

In any business, there is the good, the bad and the ugly. We prefer not to dwell too much on the ugly but instead to be thankful for all the good things that made the last 16 years both possible and successful. It's been fun, it's been furious and we will treasure the memories. Our best to everyone, and we hope you will all experience a prosperous 2010. In the meantime, we'll see you! WP