Since that time, our flagship product, the Business Record, has grown and expanded from a faxed business newsletter to a robust business journal that reaches a variety of audiences across multiple brands and platforms and which last week was recognized once again with several prestigious awards by our industry peers. Congratulations go to the entire Business Record team and thanks go to you – our readers – for your continued support and feedback as we continue to innovate and evolve during unprecedented times. 

While we do not produce products in order to receive awards, it is always gratifying to be recognized for excellence by one’s peers, especially when they include leading business publications in the U.S., Canada and Australia. At the Alliance of Area Business Publishers  (AABP) annual awards last week, Business Record was honored to receive awards in three categories: Best  Specialty E-Newsletter for Commercial Real Estate Weekly; Best  Use of Multimedia for our Photo Issue website, and Best Daily Email for The Daily. 

We extend our thanks to Kathy Bolten, who in her first year at the helm of Commercial Real Estate carries on the tradition of Business Record winning awards for this publication. Kathy is a talented, dedicated reporter who brings you top-notch coverage of an ever-changing industry that is vital to our community and state. 

Congratulations go to Creative Director Joe Crimmings for the website that housed the Photo Issue, along with photographer Duane Tinkey, John Retzlaff, and all the writers who profiled area business leaders in this issue.

It takes an entire team to produce our daily e-newsletters, which has annually been one of the strongest within AABP.  Special recognition to Associate Editor Emily Barske, who in her first year has shown thoughtful and skillful leadership. Each individual in our newsroom deserves a big thank you for all they do to make the Daily an indispensable read: Emily Blobaum, Kathy Bolten, Michael Crumb, Joe Gardyasz, Kate Hayden, Kurt Helland and John Retzlaff; our design team Joe Crimmings, Lauren Burt and our newest addition Patrick Herteen; our Account and Event Executives Sara Brown, Stacey Thompson, Lori Bratrud, Laura Stapes, Kristi Edwards and Mallory Hughes; and our finance and operations team who support us all.

And of course, heartfelt congratulations and thanks go to our talented and dedicated Publisher and Executive Editor Chris Conetzkey. Throughout his 10-plus years at BPC, Chris has constantly shaped and grown the Business Record. Under his leadership, we have steadily added multiple specialty newsletters, publications and events to meet readers’ needs.  We are one of the smaller U.S. business journals in terms of market size, but we annually perform at the top of our industry and are widely recognized as a leader and innovator within our peer group. Credit for this excellence goes to Chris and the teams he leads. 

It is incredibly meaningful to be recognized by peers, and in particular for innovation, but what is most profound is recognition from you – our readers.  And in the recent months, as we have quickly pivoted to provide timely and relevant coverage of the pandemic and now, of the civil rights protests and dialogue, we have received an outpouring of positive feedback, support, and of course – questions. Among the most common question many of you are asking is this:  How will we cover the issues at hand going forward?

The answer is simple. We will cover the news and issues as we always have since our founding – with the health and strength of our community in mind.  We are here because of you, and we are here for you. We thank you – our readers – for your support.  We write for you, and we produce programs to help you do business better.  Any awards we receive are a testament to the fact you value the work we do and show your support by reading, engaging, and advertising. Thank you. Keep the feedback coming and we’ll continue to work hard to serve you with the kind of excellence our industry also values.