Twenty-five years ago, when The Press published its first Progress edition, Ohio ranked second in the nation for unemployment and in the top five for population loss.

Today, Ohio ranks 11th in unemployment and population has stabilized, growing 1.6 percent in the last nine years.

That’s progress. Maybe not at the rate we all want, but still progress.

This year, the press staff looks at development during the decade 2000-2009, a decade dominated by terrorism, two wars and The Great Recession, but still a decade that had bright spots.

To put it in context, let’s first look at the 80s and the 90s:

The 1980s
Infrastructure was the word in 1986 when we published our first Progress edition. The Millard Avenue overpass, which opened Oregon’s industrial land, was in the planning stages. A replacement was being considered for the Craig Bridge, which opened and closed 1,125 times in 1985, delaying traffic and deterring commerce. And, state officials finally moved forward on the Route 2 widening.