Past, present and future

Today, Essex County Newspapers kicks off an exciting new venture: Pulse 2000.

This effort, which has involved about 100 people, is designed to focus on business trends _ trends that affect all our daily lives, now and in the future.

The first section is about manufacturing; the second is about health and leisure activities; and the third is about wealth. All illustrate the varied and vibrant North Shore economy.

The North Shore is uniquely positioned for growth. Part of the greater Boston area, the North Shore benefits from that city's educational opportunities and high-tech economy. But in addition, the North Shore has its own history of economic development.

As today's Pulse section shows, that North Shore history continues to evolve. From its Industrial Age roots in factories and tanneries to today's Information Age, the North Shore has a long tradition of combining its heritage with cutting-edge technology.

Readers of this section will visit the Cummings Center, a renovated factory in Beverly teeming with business life, and the Hat Factory in Amesbury, which is being redeveloped as riverfront condominiums.

But you will also visit training centers for new immigrants, who provide one of the few streams of new employees for Massachusetts, high school students and members of local unions. You'll meet entrepreneurs, industrialists and elected officials.

We hope that this section, and the two that follow in coming weeks, will be informative, entertaining and thought-provoking. If you have comments you'd like to share, please e-mail them to mfine@ecnnews.com, mail them to Meredith Fine, Gloucester Daily Times, 36 Whittemore St., Gloucester, Mass. 01930, or call 978-283-7000.

Finally, the Pulse series would not have been possible without the ideas and support of local businesspeople who took the time to attend three focus groups and the extraordinary efforts of our staff.

In particular, thanks to Monique Burns and Merrily Buchs for their editing assistance; graphic artists PJ Ryan and Dan Ryan; and the dozens of reporters, photographers, page designers and advertising staff who made the section a reality.

_Meredith Fine, editor