Winners and Losers – 2007 Year in Review

Winners and Losers column by Chris Graham
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WINNER: SRI International brings Silicon Shenandoah promise
It will be years before we know this for sure, but …
Look what SRI did to the Silicon Valley in California.
Its presence in the Valley will be transformative. Write that down.

ASCENDING: SRI International, James Madison University, Coors, Waynesboro retail sector
HOLDING PATTERN: Valley poultry industry
DESCENDING: Staunton retail sector

LOSERS: Valley Democrats
Not that this is anything new, but …
David Cox fell short – well short – in his bid to unseat Emmett Hanger in the 24th Senate District. Ditto for our friend Maxine Hope Roles in her challenge of Mark Obenshain in the 26th Senate District. And Karen Schultz in her campaign against Jill Vogel in the 27th.
Dems didn’t even field challengers in races for open House seats in the Valley.
And then there was the upset of Democrat Lee Godfrey in her race against 23-year-old Republican Jeremy Shifflett for the open Beverley Manor District seat on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors.

LOSERS: Valley Republicans
All the success at the local level was nice, but …
Dems are in control of the Virginia Senate and the governor’s mansion.
Translation: We can pass all the fiscal and social legislation that we want, and it’s never going to see the light of day in the end.

ASCENDING: Chris Saxman, Mark Obenshain
HOLDING PATTERN: Emmett Hanger, Steve Landes, Ben Cline
DESCENDING: Anybody with a D beside their name

LOSER: The News Virginian circulation down sharply
Not that long ago, the Waynesboro daily was hyping how it was bucking national trends showing declining newspaper readership.
But from a circulation base of nearly 8,000 Monday-through-Friday and 7,500 on Sunday as of this past summer, the numbers are heading south faster than Canadian geese. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation report for the six-month period ending Sept. 30, the NV’s circulation was below 7,400 Monday-through-Friday and right at 7,000 on Sunday.
That’s about a 5 to 6 percent drop in the course of a few months.
Media General shareholders cannot be happy.

ASCENDING: NBC29, News Leader
HOLDING PATTERN: Daily News-Record, Daily Progress, WHSV-TV3
DESCENDING: WVPT, News Virginian