For the gap in what I heard was the absence of growth. A contentment to just be what you is. And there are enough tales of woe out there from companies who no longer exist that if you aren’t moving forward, you might as well be moving backward.

I’m reminded of the Far Side, where the sheep is in a pen full of other sheep and he rises and screams at the top of his lungs, “We don’t have to be just sheep!”

And our region’s economic health seems to be filled with sheep right now. And I think there were more than a couple of people at highlight midwest who remind us that we can be so much more.