When the recession ends — and it will, someday — every community should aspire to lead the recovery that will be measured in new jobs, rising household incomes and brightened prospects for the future.

Bonus points will be awarded for “clean” industries that tap into the enthusiasm for renewable energy and for high-tech jobs that emphasize brains over brawn.

Be sure to include St. Joseph on that list of aspiring communities. And Mound City, Maryville and the rest of the Midland Empire. Examples of looking to the future are plentiful in these parts, including these two from recent news reports:

n Wind Capital Group of St. Louis has found Northwest Missouri to be a welcoming place for wind farms. It already has placed four fields of turbines in Gentry, Atchison and Nodaway counties. But nothing like it has planned.

Within the next two years, company president Tom Carnahan wants to build a $600 million, 150-turbine wind farm on 30,000 acres largely east of Mound City in Holt and Atchison counties. The construction project would create hundreds of jobs, generate new property tax revenues and spur economic development.

Mr. Carnahan is eager to get started, telling residents, “We’re ready whenever you are.”

n Intel Corp., a major player in the technology world, has revealed it is considering a partnership in St. Joseph to develop laptop computers that would deliver digital textbooks to students.

It is stirring to hear an Intel representative declare, “This is the first time we have done something like this in a community.”

The vision expressed by Jeff Galinovsky, regional manager for the Classmate PC program, is to combine expertise in small laptops with software to create “the entire solution.” In this vision, all textbooks would become digital e-books, and students would carry just the lightweight laptop in their backpack. Northwest Missouri State University and Missouri Western State University could be involved in creating content, and Intel might seek a partnership with the St. Joseph School District to test the system.

In the midst of a recession, it does a community good to dream a bit — and to plan.