"Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.”

– C. William Pollard, “The Soul of the Firm”

Welcome to the Nashville Ledger, where our mission is to put the above quote into practice.

Since acquiring the Westview newspaper last year, it has been the goal of new ownership and staff to provide readers with information to help make their businesses and practices more successful.

With our editorial content, we have written about the people and trends helping to shape Nashville’s business community. Our extensive public records – court dockets, real estate transactions, permits, UCC filings and more – and legal notices have provided a valuable depth of information not found in other Nashville publications.

Happily, the new Westview was well-received, with circulation and distribution growing by several thousand during the second half of 2010.

That growth was made possible by great writing from a collection of veteran Nashville journalists, names many of you recognize from decades of excellence at other publications. They also, in many cases, are writers I have had the pleasure to work with in a journalism career that began more 30 years ago.

Tim Ghianni, for example, has been writing wonderful, in-depth features for more than three decades. We worked together at the Nashville Banner, where his profiles of everyday Nashvillians were reader favorites and his knowledge of the inner workings of Middle Tennessee benefitted the entire staff.

Tim, who also serves as journalist-in-residence at Lipscomb University, has written many features for the Westview that have provided revealing insights into the business side of Nashville’s entertainment industry, as well touching portraits of everyday personalities who help make the city unique.

Bill Lewis, a former Nashville Business Journal editor, and veteran sports writer Terry McCormick were colleagues of mine during my first newspaper job and have been valued Westview contributors. Bill’s writing and familiarity with the Middle Tennessee business community have been a major factor in our growth, while Terry’s insight into the business of sports has helped us look past the headlines and give readers a better understanding of how and why decisions are made that affect our favorite teams.

Sheila Burke, who covered courts for The Tennessean and the Associated Press, has shown us the human toll of courtroom decisions and documented the legal troubles and fall from grace of Nashville football hero Cory Fleming.

Joe Morris, a recent addition, has written on tourism and provides this week’s cover story on Nashville’s success in drawing convention bookings for Opryland Hotel and Music City Center.

Hollie Deese has provided weekly profiles of “green” businesses, as well as breaking news and features. Judy Sarles, also a Banner alum, is another key contributor, as is Tracy Lucas.

Barry Owens, whose employment columns have appeared in many of the top newspapers in the country, is providing great insight for job seekers with his weekly “Get a Job” column.

Making us all look good is Cynthia Hester, another longtime friend whose design work has been on display at The Tennessean, The City Paper, Nashville Business Journal, and The Tennessee Register. Her redesign and weekly layout work have been phenomenal.

The Nashville area has a wealth of journalistic talent, with knowledge of the community and its people that can only come from years of experience. It’s been a joy to pull this group together and give these talented writers a platform. I can only hope they are enjoying it as much as I.

The change to Nashville Ledger represents the continued evolution of our product. The Westview’s editorial focus was the western portion of Davidson and Williamson counties, as well as Dickson and Cheatham counties. While the Ledger will continue to provide articles of interest to those areas, we will expand our coverage of business, real estate, law and government.

We also are increasing the availability of the Ledger, particularly in downtown and Williamson County. We already are available throughout Davidson County, but will be increasing the number of distribution points.

Our hope is that the information we provide will be informative and entertaining. We also will strive to make it valuable to you and your business by providing data that produce leads.

We also would like your input. Please let us know what types of articles you would like to read or what information we can provide that would help you be more successful.

I hope you enjoy the Nashville Ledger and will be an active participant in our evolution.