Five years after the recession hit the national economy, anecdotal reports from Island businesses say the local economy is slowly creeping back to normal. Businesses are reporting slightly improved summer seasons, with higher traffic to the Island, especially in August.

“To my knowledge, no one has ever been tied up to the same boat, without interruption for 50 years,” he said this week on the porch outside his office in Vineyard Haven.

Six years ago when Flatbread Company founder Jay Gould called Tina Miller to ask if he should open a restaurant at the former home of The Hot Tin Roof, she advised him against it. She didn’t think there was enough of a market for casual family dining at the airport location.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day: show him how to catch fish and you feed him for a lifetime. So goes the familiar adage.

But for Vineyard women Lila Fischer and Hannah Kahl, the saying might go more like this: ask a man how you can empower him to help others and you will feed his entire community. Just don’t forget to include women in the conversation, too.