Once upon a time, large industrial conglomerates ruled, here in the Tri-State and elsewhere. There was ARMCO, Ashland Oil and Refining turning into Ashland Inc., Houdaille and Calgon, just to name a few.

Those days are past, yet jobs are still needed. They are just not coming from the large industrial section. Today, it is the Mom and Pop businesses that have become the economic backbone of our world.

That is why the work of the Lawrence Economic Development Corporation has become such a vital part of the economic world here in Lawrence County.

Ever so slowly over the past decade or so, the LEDC has turned a former brownfield called Allied Chemical and Ethanol plants not only into a green field, but as LEDC executive director Dr. Bill Dingus likes to say, but also into an industrial park. To be precise, The Point industrial park in South Point.

This past Friday the LEDC christened its 10th spec building, a concept the organization has used over and over with great results. As Dr. Dingus has been quoted to say, if we build it, they will come. And they have.

Right now, The Point provides high-paying jobs for between 750 and 770 individuals.

And the LEDC, with the newly formed Tri-State Angels Investment Group, appears to have no intention of stopping this economic development work. The Angels Group was created to provide financial support to entrepreneurs.

The LEDC should be commended — and appreciated — for all that it does for the county.