With this edition, Pacific Builder & Engineer closes the books after 107 years of continuous publication. The magazine survived two world wars, the Great Depression and 9/11, but it couldn't overcome the challenges posed by a changing world.
From my first day in the editor's chair nearly 15 years ago, I tried to produce a magazine that would fulfill its promise to be "The Voice of Northwest Construction." PB&E's content would show contractors where the work was and help them find ways to complete it safely and profitably.
It has been interesting and enjoyable work, and I've made a lot of good friends along the way.
I've also learned a great deal about an industry that was mostly unknown to me before Geoff Vernon hired me to edit PB&E. I didn't know an excavator from a grader in those days. One of the first things I did was to make a cheat sheet for myself by cutting pictures of various types of construction machinery out of the Buyers' Guide and labeling them on a page so I could learn the terminology.
Editing PB&E involved a lot of reading to keep up with the news involving the construction industry. I spent long hours researching projects to find ones that would make good stories for the magazine. That laid the ground work for the fun part of the job, which was getting out on the job sites and meeting the people who were building this great corner of our nation. Rarely did I leave a project feeling anything but extremely impressed with the technical skills and can-do attitudes I witnessed.
I figure I've written about 300 job stories based on those site visits, and I want to thank every one of you who took time out of your busy schedules to show me your projects, explain the technical details and answer my questions. I hope my stories justified the trust you placed in me.
By the time you read this I will be out there in the job market looking for my next opportunity. But forever more I will look at the Pacific Northwest with different eyes, marveling at all of the great work you have done while I was covering your industry in PB&E.
