The local elections are over.  Quad/Graphics is closing.

        We can't change the past, but we can learn from our mistakes and work towards improving the future.

        Once again, social media was abuzz and the internet flaming with defamatory personal attacks surrounding the issues of the candidates and those associated with them.  What the haters forget is that when they wrap a real-life issue in personal attacks, their message becomes less effective because of a perceived agenda;  an agenda that is outside of the scope of the real problems.

        We need to conduct campaigns in an adult manner free of hate; facing the issues and providing solutions to problems and making the present and future better for all.

        The employees of Quad/Graphics will soon be jobless.  In many cases, some have worked there (including the former Brown Printing Company) for decades.  In some cases, family members worked side by side at the printing plant.

        What can we as a community, a business organization, or a local government do to help the hundreds of folks who will soon be without a job?  What will become of the enormous facility located on Gravel Pike in Upper Hanover Township?  What is the loss in tax revenue to Montgomery County, the Upper Perkiomen School District, and Upper Hanover Township?  How will that loss be made up?

        What can we do to locate a business or businesses who might be interested in starting or relocating to the Upper Perkiomen Valley?  What can we do (short of giving away the farm) to entice them to start or move here?

        Those community, business and government groups need to be meeting now and developing a plan for this drastic loss to the local, working people.  Waiting for something to happen isn't going to work.

        A quick check on the internet shows hundreds of communities in scores of states advertising their locales and inviting businesses to "check them out" as a good place to do their business.  They advertise great locations, qualified work-force, and other incentives.  It is a great way to market their communities to a national audience.

        But before we can take that step, we need a plan.  Not drawn up by a big-city "expert" for tens of thousands of dollars (that we don't have), but by the community, business and government groups that will need to persuade new businesses.

        The groups should organize for the good of the community, especially at this time, and their actions be transparent.  Communications is key every step of the way.  Listening to public input is part of that communications process.  Cooperation, not hate, will get the job done.

        Back in July, President Obama said "… the economy, by every metric, is better than when I came into office" while on the Jon Stewart television show.  It is a sweeping statement.  In January 2009 the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent.  After peaking at 10 percent in October 2009, the rate fell to 5.3 percent by June 2015.

        Politicians need to remember that in addition to all of the other factors they use to claim a thriving economy, unemployment is the one that hits people hardest. 

        Ask our good friends and neighbors who will be losing their jobs at the end of the year.