In talking to a lot of other business owners, it seems like Grand County is a great place for individuals to wet their feet in their desired field, gain some experience in a lovely setting and then spread their wings.

I know my husband and father-in-law both frequently experience this in the law enforcement world.

No, the employment fallout is not “fake news” here in Grand County. And while the Sky-Hi News has had a great run with its editorial staff for more than two years, our time of transition has come.

The season of change started with Eli Pace transitioning to role of editor at the Steamboat Pilot & Today on Dec. 1. For many editors at a non-daily, the goal is to become a daily editor. While Eli deeply loves Grand County, when that opportunity arose for him, he decided to put his hat in the ring.

The competition for employees right now is fierce, and it takes a small miracle to even get applications, so when a good application comes across one’s desk, employers would do well to jump at that opportunity.

This is precisely what happened with reporters Amy Golden and McKenna Harford. Both came to Sky-Hi News straight from college. Hiring a recent graduate into a professional job is always a bit of a gamble, but that gamble paid off tenfold with these two.

Each has proven herself an excellent journalist time and again and each has built great relationships in this community.

But Amy and McKenna have also both wanted to be closer to their families on the Front Range for some time and unfortunately for this community, the time has come for both of them to take the next step in their careers. If you want to continue to follow their reporting, you can find Amy writing for the Longmont Leader and McKenna writing for the Douglas County News Press.

For anyone who has worked for me, they will tell you that frequently I ask them where they want to be in the future. I know that staying at the Sky-Hi News as a “lifer” is not something I can expect. I also feel like I’m not doing my job if I don’t help advance my employee’s careers.

It is important to me to have open communication about goals and aspirations. If I know what they are, I do what I can to help people achieve them.

Here at Sky-Hi News, we pride ourselves on the level of quality journalism we provide to this county. We have managed to produce a paper twice a week through many struggles, including a whole-staff evacuation during the East Troublesome Fire.

But without fail, we have produced the best product possible—and we will continue to do into the future. Over these next few months, this will come with some smaller page counts, potentially more errors and more frequent regional articles. We might also fail to accommodate all of the requests we get, but we will try our best.

The Sky-Hi News will be back to full capacity soon. Our new editor started on Feb. 28. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this county is getting lucky! She will introduce herself soon.

As for me, I’m still here, door wide open and excited to see what the future holds.