A New Year at Washington CEO Magazine begins with a new editor and a recommitment to our mission of providing our readers with the best of business journalism in print, online and through an expanding array of community events.

Barbara Morgan, a veteran journalist with deep roots in Washington's business community, became executive editor in early December.

Morgan's background in journalism as the longtime editor and vice president of the King County Journal in Bellevue and in previous editorial leadership positions in California provides her with impressive journalistic credentials. She understands business news and how to make it meaningful for the more than 170,000 decision makers who read Washington CEO each month. She sets high standards and is hell-bent for stories that are accurate, fair and insightful.

A successful business magazine editor, however, needs more than a journalism background. Passion and vision also are critical elements ? an unabashed passion for the role that business plays in building the economy, providing jobs and paving the way for social and political progress. Barbara's stated vision is to make Washington CEO a statewide forum for information, debate and solutions.

As she put it during one of our conversations: "Our priority should be to position the magazine as the center for articulating business concerns. We shouldn't just report the issues facing the business community. We also need to characterize them and, in some instances, provide the leadership in the magazine to deal with them."

So, what does that mean for the coming year?

-More enterprise reporting that sheds light and builds understanding of how business is done in our state and how it is affected by government regulation, taxation and policy.

-More agenda-setting information ? in the magazine, online and in a forthcoming e-mail newsletter. We will separate the blips from long-term trends that shape the local economy.

-More names and faces of the driving forces behind business. We'll concentrate on the shakers and movers, the influencers, the disruptors, the innovators, and the philanthropists, as well as those whose efforts better our community. We want to create understanding and build bridges that unite young professionals with the time-tested business veterans.

-More coverage of business east of the Cascades in recognition of Washington's economic diversity and the critical role played by agriculture, technology and other emerging industries outside the Puget Sound region.

And, we'll have a little fun as well. Business, after all, is more than the bottom line.