In larger places, journalists talk about businesses and nonprofits (or not-for-profits) as very different things. Indeed, they operate differently, and that’s true even in an era where it’s no longer safe to assume an entity that once fit clearly in one category isn’t in the other. That’s especially true in Jefferson County, where we have more than 400 nonprofits of various sizes.

That’s why the Leader is taking a 10,000-foot view by seeing them collectively in terms of coverage in our Commerce pages. 

It makes sense to see them under the big umbrella of what they share externally, which is the exchange of goods and services. Regardless of the type of entity, if it’s large enough it pays salaries and/or contract workers, rents space, buys computers, uses wireless services, and so forth.

We want to write more about all of it — all of you — and this is my personal encouragement that you will send us your business and NP news to editor@ptleader.com. More about how best to do that at the bottom. 

The Leader, as a legacy newspaper, has a long history of covering business. No surprise that the pandemic and general downturn for our industry resulted in a more lean operation, which meant less coverage of a lot of things, not just commerce. Happy to report that The Leader is slowly growing again, thanks to you. That has enabled us to expand coverage in several areas, something that will continue. 

We are running Commerce, Dollars and Sense (its full name) for the third time in this issue, on pages 17-18. This week it features a story about a new brewing company that has just opened in town by our newest hire, Nicholas Johnson, a journalist who has worked at The Leader before. He rejoins us from the The Everett Herald. Welcome Nick!

It also includes an excellent column about affordable housing by Jamie Maciejewski, executive director Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County. We also have business briefs that we intend to be ‘hyper-local’ with time. 

Commerce is small, and monthly, but it’s a start. Consider this a formal request to hear more of you about your work. Maybe it’s a brief about the addition of a service, as with Jefferson Healthcare. Maybe a company has changed hands, a new storefront, a food truck, a consultancy. News about people is also welcome, perhaps a new executive director, a significant promotion, an anniversary for one of our longstanding businesses. Please put COMMERCE NEWS in the header of the email.

Meredith Jordan can be reached at editor@ptleader.com.