It’s disappointing to see a longtime city business making a major cutback to its operation here.

News that Blackstone-Ney on North Main Street is moving most of its North Main Street operation to Cincinnati is disappointing, but it’s not something city officials could do much about. On the other hand, we’re encouraged the city was at the table trying to keep the company here. Too often, when the public learns a company is moving on to greener pastures local officials say they hadn’t heard the company was considering a move. That’s unacceptable – and it wasn’t the case here.

It doesn’t sound as if there was much the city could have done on its own to keep Blackstone-Ney’s full operation here, but at least Mayor Kim Ecklund and Crystal Surdyk, city development director, were in regular contact with the company.

That’s not a failure, in our opinion.

The real test lies in what comes next. Business will come and go. The key is to make sure they’re coming in faster than they leave. Our real issue over the years has been the length of time it takes to find new uses for buildings. That’s particularly true for industrial parcels that have a pretty limited range of uses.

Blackstone-Ney is a key parcel when it comes to downtown Jamestown given its proximity to the Chadakoin Riverwalk and the high hopes the city and foundations have for development of the river into a space that attracts people downtown. Losing Blackstone-Ney is a blow, but also an opportunity.

The test for Ecklund, Surdyk and their partners at the county level is to find a new use for the Blackstone-Ney building that fits into the city’s existing plan for the Chadakoin River. That’s the real test.