In Friday’s edition of The Tidewater News, it was reported that a downtown computer and electronics repair business had decided to close up shop in Franklin and relocate to Suffolk. In an interview, the business’ owner stated, “The town feels like it’s dying.”

There is no question that Franklin is facing challenges like so many other small towns all across this country. And we have, at times, been quite critical of the city’s leadership and its commitment to revitalizing our community. But make no mistake; we do not subscribe to the notion that Franklin is dying.

There are still too many people here who care about this community to let it die. There are still too many business owners investing money and time into growing their businesses to let it die. There is still too much good in our community for it to die.

Yes, we have problems. And, yes, we are not where we want or need to be economically. But floods, fires and economic downturns have not managed to kill us off. As long as Franklin maintains its fighting spirit, we will be here for many years to come.