It’s hard to find the silver lining in our poor economic conditions. Layoffs are still a regular practice. Housing prices continue to fall. Businesses keep filing for bankruptcy.

There was some positive news for Austin last week, though, when our local Chrysler and General Motors dealers survived the massive closings announced by the two companies.

According to officials from Holiday Cars, Inc., Austin’s Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep dealership, and Usem Chevrolet, the two businesses will remain open.

Both dealerships have been fixtures in our community for decades, and both are important because they give our residents car-buying options so we don’t have to spend our money in Rochester or the Twin Cities.

We’re pleased the two dealerships survived the latest bad news of the economy, and we hope they continue to serve Austin for decades to come.