Have you ever enjoyed a chapter of your life in which, as you turn the page, you know in your heart that you’ve just been living through what you will remember fondly as “the good old days?”
I have been blessed to live through a series of those chapters in my life.
And so it goes. I’ll make this short and sweet. This is my final column as the executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee. I’ve been working this gig since August of 2002. It’s been an exhilarating ride all the way.
I just want to say thank you. I am so grateful that the path of my life with my wife, Kristi, crossed the path of BizTimes publisher Dan Meyer and his lovely wife, Kate. It has been an amazing partnership. I owe you so much, Dan…Most of all, you hired me to be me. Together, through all of the magazines, online news, social media and live events, we conquered our little corner of the world! I will forever be proud of our accomplishments.
I just want to say thank you. I have been blessed to have crossed paths with a handful of amazing young journalists in our newsroom. The journey began with the hiring of Andrew Weiland as managing editor shortly after I started. Andrew has been a steady, capable professional…The perfect running mate. Along the way, we hired truly outstanding reporters…Elizabeth Hockerman, Eric Decker, Alysha Schertz, Molly Dill, Erica Breunlin, Dan Shafer and Hilary Dickinson.
Over the years, I can’t quantify how many times business people and others in the community called me up just to tell me how kind and talented my people are. Either I have a knack for interviewing and hiring the best people, or I just lucked out…Either way, I have been blessed.
I just want to say thank you to all of the thousands of business leaders I have interviewed over the years. Thank you for sharing your time and your wisdom.
If I could leave you with one final thought for inspiration, it would be something my father told me years ago when I was first named to be an editor and to supervise other people at a young age: “Leadership is simple, but it’s not easy. It’s simple in that you hire the best people and then you do everything you can to help them fly.” Dad was a servant leader ahead of his time.
And together, the BizTimes crew certainly has flown, winning national awards for editorial excellence! I just want to say thank you to all of the businesses, organizations and other media outlets we partnered with along the way. I surely hope those partnerships will continue!
Finally, I want to thank you, the readers. It has been an honor to serve you for the past 13 years. I hope you will continue to support this fine, honorable and vital business. It’s time for this great small company to start a new chapter with fresh ideas.
As for me, just so you know, I have accepted an offer to become the business editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In many ways, I’m returning to my roots, having started as a suburban municipal government stringer for the old Milwaukee Sentinel when I was a budding young collegiate journalist so many years ago. I am grateful for this new opportunity, as I sincerely believe that a vibrant daily newspaper is essential to the American democracy.
So, thank you.
Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes. Going forward, please send your business news to andrew.weiland@biztimes.com or molly.dill@biztimes.com.
