As I saw the tag line in a beer commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, with lemons raining from the sky, I wondered if this was an appropriate message during the pandemic. So what caught my ire? Admittedly, most things that are now considered “PC” I have to mull over a couple of times before a better understanding sets in. As I get older, the more I can appreciate the vastness of what I don’t know, as well as the opportunities and the limitations of ones’ experiences. No matter—believing the world isn’t yet ready for the pandemic to be the backdrop of a poster up on the wall next to a bar stool is something that I have confidence in.

Bill Ferguson, Jr., a longtime writer for the magazine who recently joined our team as assistant editor, said something interesting while he was working on the Power 100 feature, which you see in this issue—for so many of people, 2020 was a lost year. If you look back at last year’s Power 100 list, we noted the potential of the coming year for people in the Top 10 and those on the Ones to Watch list. But who could have predicted the curveball from COVID-19?

Many people on this year’s Power 100 list did make the best of a bad situation. The same could also be said for the winners of the inaugural Best in Cincy Business Awards. Our readers voted for their favorite business service providers—from accounting firms to marketing agencies, many of which worked hard to provide the same great service during an unusual year.

Cincinnati is better off with the likes of those you see here. We can take solace in that and be confident that we will all together map out our futures in hopes of a more healthy and vibrant tomorrow.