For the fourth year in a row, Thomasville is gearing up for its unique Rural "National" Supplier Conference.

This year, the Boeing Company is once again on the top of the bill, but city officials are partnering with other organizations in the hope this year's edition will be bigger and better.

Other so-called prime contractors expected to be in attendance are Lockheed- Martin, General Dynamic, Northrop- Grumman, Teledyne-Brown, Honeywell, Raytheon and a host of others.

While it can be hard for most of us to pin down exactly what the conference has done for Thomasville, it has at least brought the city the attention that many cities, even much larger cities never get from elected officials and representatives of major companies.

That never hurts. At least it doesn't hurt as long as we can be good hosts and put our best foot forward. And we seem to have done that. Thomasville has consistently received high praise for the conferences, and this year should be no exception with the conference moving to the new civic center.