By Lloyd Garrison

With January behind us and still no snow on the ground, there is an unsettling sense of change in the air, and it is not just the weather. A cursory glance at the two headlines to the right portend some big challenges ahead for Norfolk in 2007.

Tom McGowan, for one, believes that retailers trying to succeed here face such an uphill struggle that downtown Norfolk could soon become a ghost town. His Norfolk Tea and Trading Company is to fold on April 30. Ersebet Black, the other tenant in the former hardware store, will make up her mind whether to do the same by the end of the month.

Coloring everything a dreary gray is the uncertain fate of the Greenwoods Theater Building. A foreclosure sale is set for February 3. The owner, Maura Cavanaugh, has pulled several legal rabbits out of a hat in delaying past court-ordered foreclosures, and she may succeed again. But in the meantime, two retailers renting space in her building have had to relocate, citing a lack of heat.

At the risk of crying wolf, Norfolk’s biggest employer, New England Miniature Ball (NEMB), may also be endangered. The company makes specialized miniature ball bearings the thinness of a human hair. Management has already set up a second plant in China named NEMB Shanghai. Could China’s magnetic pull leave Norfolk yet another victim of outsourcing? The answer may rest in the fact that the plant here has been up for sale for over six months, with as yet only one approach from a potential buyer.

Despite these threats to its economy, Norfolk is much better prepared to cope with the shock of future failures than in the past. Three developments stand out:

Members of the Economic Development Commission (EDC), anticipating Greenwood’s possible sale, have been busy contacting dozens of potential purchasers. Their strategy is to avoid the town becoming the only bidder on the property, which could leave Norfolk with sole responsibility for its upkeep.

Planning and Zoning Commission members are now in their second year of reviewing regulations to promote appropriate economic growth and updating the town plan to better protect the town’s rural character. Some changes have already made it easier to set up home enterprises.

And as reported on page XX, a sub committee of the EDC has just won a grant from the state to help launch 30 farmers markets in Norfolk over the next two years. Future market days could see 100s of visitors buying not only fresh produce but patronizing local merchants as well.

Norfolk Now would appear to be another asset to this community as it grapples with change. But it also faces the challenge of attracting and holding staff. Inevitably, there is a danger of burnout among those who have been with the paper from the start. Make no mistake about it: this publication could easily founder for lack of volunteers. And that would be a shame, for few would dispute that for Norfolk to avoid becoming a ghost town, it needs a community paper that is a voice for those trying to ensure that it never comes to that.