It's said luck is where preparation meets opportunity.  Maybe that's what's happening here in Marion.  I had breakfast recently with a local developer.  While we sipped our coffee, he said he thought things were looking up around town.  I agreed--and then I started thinking about why that seems to be the case.  There's probably no one thing, but a combination of signs that Marion is on the move:

• In mid March, the Dow Jones average was around 7500.  It's risen to over 9300 in recent days.
• Every month, during the recent recession, Marion County's unemployment rate has stayed below both the state and national averages.
• Ohio Business magazine just ranked Marion as one of the state's top growth cities (#20--ahead of Lancaster, Troy, Columbus, Westerville, Wooster, and Findlay, among others)
• Word is, one or more production homebuilders have put options on land in the Marion area.
• Even before new subdivisions are platted, there are plenty of new home starts in the area.  Check out Gooding Road or Crystal Lakes, or north on Hillman Ford Road.  Inside the city, there seems to be a spurt of renovation and improvement.
• Marion City and River Valley's school building projects are nearing completion.  Kids are already using the new Harding High School for basketball camps.  That 1950s feel is gone or going from many of our local schools.
• Kroger and Wal-Mart are expanding.  Sav-A-Lot is up and running.  Giant Eagle continues planning for a new store on the south side.
• CAN DO continues working with a new manufacturer to put a plant in the Dual Rail Park and several existing firms on expansions.

Maybe we've learned how to be lucky.  Learned?  Isn't luck something that just happens?  Psychologist Richard Wiseman says no.  He's the subject of an article titled "How to Make Your Own Luck" in the July 2003 issue of Fast Company magazine.  Dr. Wiseman spent the last ten years researching luck and has found there are four principles that create good fortune for people--and perhaps entire communities.  The first is to maximize chance opportunities.  Lucky people (and, by extension, communities) are skilled at creating, noticing, and acting upon chance opportunities, says Wiseman.  They build strong networks, take a relaxed attitude toward life and are open to new experiences.  In other words, lucky communities are ready when opportunities come their way, so they turn more of their opportunities into reality.

Second, lucky people listen to their intuition and gut feelings.  They hone their intuitive abilities and take time to step back and see the big picture.

Third, professor Wiseman says lucky people are optimistic.  They expect the future will be bright.  Over time, the expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because it helps them persist in the face of setbacks and shapes the way they deal with other people who can help them move forward.

And fourth, Dr. Wiseman says lucky people have a way of turning bad luck into good.  When ill fortune arrives, they don't dwell on it.  Things could have been worse, they'll say, then move on and take control of the situation. 

Dr. Wiseman says, "Unlucky people are stuck in routines.  When they see something new, they want no part of it.  Lucky people," he says, "always want something new.  They're prepared to take risks and relaxed enough to see the opportunities in the first place."

The headline on the cover of Ohio Business reads:  Ohio's Growth Cities:  Ranking the state's boomtowns."  Boomtown and Marion.  How long has it been since we've used those two words in the same sentence?  We can now.  It has a nice, lucky ring to it, doesn't it?