This Saturday, The Valley Times-News will be releasing our annual Progress section, featuring stories and photos highlighting how much the Greater Valley Area has grown in the past year.

The section will include updates on the John Soules Foods plant and the LaFayette solar farm, in-depth looks at local hospitals, Pre-K education programs and Point University along with a retrospective of Givorns Foods and the owner, Shelvie Givorns.

Progress is taking the place of the Visions special section that has run for the past few years. Instead of several sections covering business & industry, education, people & places and health care, we will have one featuring everything.

We want to use Progress as a way to promote the gains Valley, Lanett, West Point and LaFayette have made in the past year.

That means talking about the expected growth John Soules Foods and Point University will likely bring to the area.

That means discussing the various opportunities available through the Pre-K education programs and the LaFayette Solar Farm.

That means examining the impact Givorns Foods and local hospitals have had now and in years past.

Progress, is in many ways, an advertisement to the businesses, institutions, people and programs that have shaped life in the Valley and continue to do so.

This Saturday, pick up your copy of The Valley Times-News. Inside you will find our 2018 Progress special section. It is sure to be a treat for residents and passersby alike.