Opinion

    With September comes the passing of summer and the preparation for the next season. For many business people, September means the preparation and planning for the next fiscal year.     More so than in past years, the coming planning season will result in changes for many businesses.    Change is with us all, and change…

   One day in early 2000, Kerry Smith called me at my office at the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority. I had known Kerry as a reporter who worked briefly at The Telegraph in Alton, calling periodically for interviews on projects I was working on at SWIDA.    But this day she had a very different…