As we all celebrate our Independence Day today with family and friends, we here at Columbus County News also celebrate our five-year anniversary.
For me, it is hard to believe that five years have passed since we created Columbus County News from scratch back in July of 2020, but here we are five years later still providing the local news free of charge to the residents of Columbus and the surrounding counties.
As you might know, five years is a milestone that many new business start-ups never achieve. The statistics say that approximately 20 percent of new businesses fail within their first year, and about half of these new businesses fail within the first five years. Furthermore, roughly 65 percent of new startup businesses don’t survive the first ten years. But it is my hope that Columbus County News is still here in another five years, and at that time we can celebrate the tenth-year anniversary of Columbus County News.
Columbus County News was created due to a need for local news. As some of you may know, as well as being owner and publisher of Columbus County News, I am also co-owner and general manager of WTXY 103.9FM & AM1540 Radio in Whiteville. From the very start I was looking to add local news coverage to WTXY Radio, and although I did approach a local news outlet in working with us, I was unable to strike a deal for local news coverage.
It was in the spring of 2020 that I heard that Jefferson Weaver, a well-known local news reporter was looking to make a career change. The two of us met, and we got to know each other, and surprisingly we found some common ground.
We both agreed that creating a digital newspaper tailored for Columbus County made sense as there was truly a need for another news voice in Columbus County. I had some reservations at first, and I’m sure Jefferson did as well. After all, we came from different worlds. Jefferson is a proper Southern gentleman, and myself a brash opinionated Yankee who has never been afraid to speak my mind. Somehow, we have made it work, and we created this news beast we call Columbus County News.
I’d like to say that it has been easy. It hasn’t. I’d like to say that Jefferson and I are always in agreement, but we’re not. But we have made it work, and here we are five years later celebrating our anniversary of CCN.
I want to thank Jefferson for his dedication to his craft, and for putting up with me over the past five years. His work is truly appreciated not only by me and the rest of the staff at CCN, but by all our readers and advertisers too.
So as many of us celebrated the 249th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence today with family and friends, we also celebrate the fifth anniversary of Columbus County News.
I once again want to thank you, our loyal readers, as well as our advertisers who support our news operation. With their continued support we will always provide you the local news free of charge, every single day.
Thank you,
Jeff Allen Jones
Owner and Publish
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