The No Name Decade

We are all familiar with referring to past decades by their number, the 60’s, 70’s, (I’m showing my age), the 80’s, and 90’s. Being introspective, the challenge we face is how to describe the last ten years? It has been a troubling decade, I often used the music of the decade to recall back to the events and time, but even the music industry collapsed, and I’m not ready to secede the name of the decade to teen boy band N’Sync.

Looking back on this past decade, we are reminded of the difficulty and the challenges we’ve confronted. While it was a tumultuous time, every decade brings with it a period of immense challenge and opportunity.

Looking back, the 90’s in my mind are associated with the “Dot-Com” bubble. The 80’s began with a very difficult recession, S&L and thrift failures, and massive government deficits. The 70’s had the Iran hostage crisis, the oil embargo, Vietnam and Watergate. The 60’s were shook by the Cuban missile crisis, assassination of a President Kennedy and unrest during the Civil Rights movement.

Now, given perspective, we each look back at those periods of time and remember the good times, and the not-so-good times. In ten years, we will look back on the 2000’s and remember the opportunities we took advantage of, the successes we achieved and the challenges we overcame.

The books have closed on the first decade of the new century and to many, it was a zero-sum decade. So while this decade has ended without a catchy name, we inherit a blank slate for the future and a good opportunity to get moving into the 21st century.

We have the ability to make the 2010-2020 time a period of growth, opportunity, and positivity. We know the challenges we face, but let’s all get to work building great memories, successes professionally and personally.

Happy New Year and thank you for your continued support of the Chamber, I hope to see you at the Gala on Friday, January 15.

Sincerely,


John Schmitt
President & CEO
(630)544-3370