If you haven’t had the chance to see the first installments of our annual Progress Edition, you owe it to yourself to find them and take a look at their content.

Once again, the annual look at businesses and organizations that help to keep our area strong is being presented in five segments, a series that began on Feb. 2 with a section dedicated to the region’s economic outlook.

You’ll find some interesting reading, including a look at how Form Energy’s facility in Weirton figures to have a big impact on the commercial battery industry in general and employment opportunities for residents from across the Tri-State Area specifically.

Included in that first section is a look at the work OhioSE and JobsOhio are doing to bring new businesses across the Southeastern part of the state. That includes working with the Jefferson County Commissioners, Jefferson County Port Authority and other agencies to help bring development to the Jefferson County Industrial Park.

On Feb. 9, attention focused on community organizations and financial services. Included were profiles of local woman’s clubs and senior citizens groups whose members work to make a difference in the quality of life of all residents of the region. In the case of the Woman’s Club of Steubenville, that’s work that stretches back more than 125 years.

Included with the Feb. 16 edition was a look at tourism and how attractions like Historic Fort Steuben and other area museums and visitors centers help to showcase the good things you can find throughout the region.

Today, attention shifts to health care and education. Stories include a detailed look at the changes taking place at WVU Medicine Weirton Medical Center, as well as opportunities being offered at schools like West Virginia Northern Community College.

And, the month will wrap up Friday, with a look at business, industry and transportation, which will include an update on the Jefferson County Airpark and what that facility that sits just outside of Wintersville means to the region. Of course, like each of the sections, there also will be profiles of the area businesses whose owners and employees work hard every day to provide quality goods and services to the region.

When you put all of the sections together, you will find a comprehensive picture about many facets of life in our region. They offer a look at what’s been accomplished but, more important, they show a glimpse of what could be coming. That’s why the overall project carries the name The Future of Progress.

The annual Progress Edition continues a mid-winter tradition that began in 1972. And, if you are lucky enough to be able to look at some of the prior editions, you can get a pretty good feel for the ups and downs our region has experienced as those 53 years have passed.

A good example can be seen in the edition that was published on Feb. 28, 1975. It was massive — 60 pages spread across six sections. Janice Kiaski, who retired as community editor a couple of years ago, dropped off the paper that included that section — labeled “The Heart of Opportunity Country” — several months ago after finding it among the numerous files her late mother kept.

The introduction to the section reads that “Stable industry in Jefferson, Brooke, Hancock, Harrison and Carroll counties provides jobs that enable residents to enjoy homes, buy cars, keep well-dressed and be active.”

Things were looking pretty good at the time, a sentiment that was expressed in the column written by Joseph G. Kennedy.

“Nine out of every 10 people in the United States would love to live in the Steubenville area,” wrote Kennedy, who was the executive vice president of the Steubenville Area Chamber of Commerce. “That may seem like a wild statement, but it has a great deal of basis in truth. The reason is that our local economy is stronger than that of 90 percent of the rest of the country.

“U.S. government figures show that for 1974, our average unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, far less than half the current national average,” he added.

Weirton Steel was setting production marks and reported that the annual payroll of its 12,500 employees hit a record $200 million. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, meanwhile, said it recorded its best year in its history in 1974, and reported that its new battery of 79 coke ovens in Follansbee was expected to be completed in the third quarter of 1976.

Growth was seen in the area’s medical facilities — officials with Ohio Valley Hospital said work was nearly complete on its $2.2 million, 600-car garage, and enrollment in its nursing school stood at more than 100 students. St. John Medical Center, meanwhile, was excited about the opening of the in-patient portion of the Jefferson County Comprehensive Mental Health Center. Across the Ohio River, Weirton General Hospital had no room left to grow at its Weircrest site, which led officials to break ground on the $21 million Weirton Medical Center on Colliers Way.

One of the accomplishments listed by the chamber of commerce was working with members of Steubenville City Council to invite Ohio Gov. John Gilligan and W.Va. Gov. Arch Moore to town to discuss the new bridge — continuing talks that would eventually lead to the construction of the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Weirton had a new City Hall — built at a cost of $1,435,000 — and the new post office in Wintersville had just opened on Luray Drive. Downtown Steubenville was changing — ground had been broken on the $4.2 million Ohio Valley Towers Office Building and Mall at the corner of Market and Fifth streets, which would serve as the headquarters of Ohio Valley Savings and Loan.

The Jefferson Technical Institute continued to grow, registering 1,006 students for the fall quarter, the largest fall enrollment it had recorded in its six-and-a-half-year history, and a Christian Renewal Center was opened at the College of Steubenville.

Construction work at the Jefferson County Joint Vocational School had been completed, and classes were set to start in the fall.

The Hub was adding parking spaces downtown while the Fort Steuben Mall was continuing to grow — Carlisle’s was ready to join Kaufmann’s and Sears as anchors, and Miners and Mechanics Bank had just opened a branch there.

And, the Herald-Star reported progress of its own –the addition of a Sunday edition that first printed on June 2, 1974.

Things have change a lot in the last 50 years, but our Progress Edition continues to highlight all of the good things our region has to offer.

(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)