Following the theme of taking the good news where you can get it, R.I. Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis’ office recently announced that for the second consecutive year, the number of business started in the Ocean State in 2012 increased over the previous year, with the total number was the greatest since 2008.

Still, the number of businesses that ceased to exist increased in 2012 as well, although the decline represented a total far smaller than the record set in 2008.

What are we to glean from this report?

• The urge to start a business and control one’s own destiny is alive and well in Rhode Island.

• These entrepreneurs deserve all the support they can get, although as the editorial above points out, just because it should be so does not mean that it is.

• Jobs are jobs. And although it is true that “Knowledge Economy” businesses represent high-growth opportunities, the vast majority of businesses are not of that variety, and we ignore their importance at our own economic peril. •