Yes, it would be nice to have a large employer like the mill back in town. It would be nice to have the workers buying houses and stuff and the company contributing to the tax base. But is that going to happen?

Who knows. In the meantime local entrepreneurs aren't waiting around, they are adjusting their business models and making things work.

The most recent is Daigle Welding, a company that up until a few years ago, sold over 90 per cent of their boats south of the border. Then 2009 came and that door slammed shut.

But Daigle adapted and its recent contract with the Nanaimo Port Authority is an example of knowing what it takes to succeed. Now, the large percentage of the boats they build are going to individual Canadians and businesses.

Other recent success stories in Campbell River include the Department of National Defence contracts won by Ocean Pacific Marine and the deal involving two $200,000 line boring machines for China that York Machine Shop landed.

So while the big ticket industry would be nice, it's also great to have smaller businesses that think big.

It takes a lot of spokes to make the wheel of a city go around.