Just at the bottom of the masthead of this issue of the Business Times, you will find the following notation: “Vol. 10 No. 1.”

That means we are entering our 10th year of publication.  The current newspaper marks the beginning of a year-long countdown to our 10th anniversary, which we will officially celebrate in March 2010.

But I thought I would take at least a few paragraphs to describe the state of your weekly business journal and walk you through some of our plans for the next year.

We are extremely fortunate to have survived a brutal economic crisis in relatively good condition. Last fall, anticipating the extreme headwinds that were buffeting our economy, we took some painful but necessary steps to reduce our costs.

Our timing proved to be excellent, as we have experienced some of the most difficult times for advertising and circulation sales in our 10-year history.  However, there are some things that have operated in our favor.

First and foremost, our weekly news report and e-mail updates have become essential reading for anybody trying to navigate through the recession. Second, our core of advertisers and subscribers has been remarkably stable — we appreciate your business.

Third, we operate our enterprise with no long-term debt, so unlike many large newspaper chains, we can control our own destiny.

To view the rest of this column and all other full stories and offerings in the Business Times, see this week’s print version or SUBSCRIBE for $49.99 today.