CBJ Editorial
The Corridor Business Journal, created to inform business and community leaders with a weekly newspaper as its flagship, marks its 17th year this month.
Over the years, the CBJ expanded into e-newsletters, custom publishing, books, magazines, podcasts, leadership training and other ventures. Yet the foundation has remained the same: great local journalism that can’t be found elsewhere.
We’ve been proud to be accepted as a trusted source of local business news, perspectives and features. Now we can say that we’re delivering some of the best.
On June 25, the CBJ was honored with five awards by the Alliance of Area Business Publishers, a trade association for local business-to-business publishers. The CBJ was honored with a bronze award as Best Newspaper – Small Tabloid, three gold awards, and one silver award.
Gold awards went to:
- Best Scoop, for Reporter Katharine Carlon’s region-leading coverage of Amazon’s decision to open a last-mile distribution center in Iowa City.
- Best Feature, for the 2019 investigative series (Un)Hired Help, which focused on the state’s workforce shortage. It was edited by Adam Moore, written by Senior Business Reporter Dave DeWitte and Ms. Carlon, and designed by Becky Lyons and Julia Druckmiller.
- Best Recurring Feature, for the CBJ’s monthly Workspaces feature, which spotlights the region’s best in office and workplace design. The column is written by Ms. Carlon, with design by Ms. Druckmiller.
The Fifth Estate, a monthly media criticism column written by veteran journalist Joe Coffey, received a silver award for Best Bylined Commentary.
Contest judge Reuben Stern of the University of Missouri School of Journalism remarked: “Stories are well-executed, and topics are delightfully unpredictable … Design is clean and covers are thoughtful with a mix of illustrations and photographs.”
Last year the CBJ won its first-ever gold award for the series Working for a Living, which examined the challenges facing low-wage workers in the region.
“This is what solid reporting is about. This is what graphic design of that reporting looks like. This is what we talk about at our events,” said Associate Publisher and COO Andrea Rhoades. “This is why you want to subscribe to the CBJ, and market your business in the CBJ, because we’re the voice of business news.”
This year’s AABP competition drew nearly 450 entries, presenting 124 awards in three size categories.
We are proud of our staff, and grateful for the support of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor for our work connecting and reporting on the business community. At a time of challenges for all businesses, we’re continuing to work hard for you.
Good riddance to Q2
The second quarter of 2020 will go down as one of the most economically devastating in the nation’s history.
While economic numbers are not in, The Conference Board expects second quarter GDP to decline by almost 40% and that a swoosh-shaped recovery will follow.
We’re hopeful that the recovery will accelerate during the critical third quarter when schools, colleges and much of the nation start getting back to work in earnest. CBJ
