Recoveries from celebratory activities aside, we hope everyone starts the New Year with plenty of energy and optimism. After all, this community has a lot to celebrate and as always, has a lot of work to do.

Being an All-America City is a great and rare honor, something to be very proud of -- but with it comes the welcome inevitability of future challenges. For example, Kershaw County has accomplished much in the way of fighting poverty and improving quality of life -- but what we have done there, as they say, is only the beginning.

One area in which we hope to see some improvements and successes is that of industrial recruitment and economic development. The county and the Committee of 100 is getting off to a good start by hosting an economic development summit, to be held Jan. 15 at the new economic development offices. The public is invited and we strongly encourage everyone to think about attending.

As always, we want to see our community continue to become more and more engaged in its own future -- and we want to see this happen with good will, sound reasoning and civil discourse. We have no use for divisiveness and negativity for its own sake -- and there is no time, or room, for that sort of thing, anyway.

Happy New Year! Now let’s get to work.