“Boomtown USA: The 71/2 Keys to Big Success in Small Towns” is the title of a book by Jack Schultz, an entrepreneur and businessman from Effingham who will give the keynote address at this evening’s Sauk Valley Symposium.

“Boomtown USA” is also a name that certainly could have been applied to various Sauk Valley communities in days gone by, when steel, hardware and television set production provided thousands of jobs.

The Sauk Valley economy is not what it used to be. Joblessness has languished in the range of 9 percent to 10 percent.