If you’ve come anywhere near me or one of my reporters this week, you no doubt have heard us complain that we are in the midst of “Progress” and can’t be bothered to think about anything else, or communicate coherently. By the time the final deadline rolls around, many of us are hard-pressed to remember our own names.

OK, maybe it’s not quite that bad, but the production of our annual “Progress Chenango” editions is one of the most difficult, and rewarding, tasks we undertake here at The Evening Sun all year. Published every day during the last week in January, the preparations for Progress actually begin in early December. With a dozen or so stories to set up, interview, photograph, write, re-write, re-interview, edit, lay out and print, it’s a monumental task for our already taxed staff.

For the uninitiated, Progress Chenango is ... well ... here’s what I wrote for the sales letter: “To say that it’s been a tumultuous year for business is an understatement. A faltering stock market, the mortgage crisis, bailouts for banks and auto manufacturers – it seems 2008 was all about ‘bad news’ headlines.