Dubroff: A mid-year update from the Business Times newsroom
With the calendar rolling over to the second half of the year, I thought I’d take the editor’s prerogative and provide an update from the Business Times newsroom.
Up next for us are the 20th anniversary edition of our Spirit of Small Business awards which is coming up at the end of this month. Simultaneously, we’re looking for nominations for our upcoming Champions in Health Care, 40 under 40 and Fastest Growing Companies publications. We have some exciting plans for our Aug. 17 Spirit of Small Business Awards luncheon which we will be announcing soon.
Our upcoming publication schedule includes our annual Giving Guide in September and a new report on Emergency Preparedness for businesses and nonprofits, which will be published in October. Don’t forget our next event, our 12th annual Latino Business Awards at Limoneira Ranch on July 20.
The Business Times newsroom has been through a lot of changes in the past six months. We’ve promoted Jorge Mercado and Amber Hair to co-managing editors for news and special reports, respectively. We hired Mike Harris, a veteran of the Ventura County Star, to cover a variety of beats and strengthen our coverage in East Ventura County.
This summer, we’re pleased to support three interns. Tressa Axelrod is supporting Amber’s special reports efforts, Jake Piazza will be returning in July for his second tour as a Dow Jones News Fund Intern and Kya Williams has joined us to help Jorge with our daily news operation with a special focus on North Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. We would also like to thank Holly Rusch for all the help she has provided.
In the advertising, Publisher Linda le Brock and her team are working on a new partnership we developed on digital advertising. This will give us the ability to provide a full suite of services to new and existing customers. These tools include geotargeting, email marketing and video as well as search, social media and display opportunities.
To learn more about our new partnership or any of our opportunities, you can reach out to Linda at llebrock@pacbiztimes.com, advertising account executive Sean McCullough at smccullough@pacbiztimes.com, or Veronica Kusmuk at vkusmuk@pacbiztimes.com. Linda and Veronica are celebrating 12 years with the Business Times this year and Sean is celebrating his fifth anniversary. Kudos to all and particularly Veronica who also hosts our podcast, Charting Her Course, a series of conversations with women business owners.
I’d also like to give a shoutout to our advertising interns, Vianna Mabanag and Gigi Jordan and to our advertising/event coordinator Jennifer Carusa.
Advertising Graphic Designer Courtney Arbercrombie and Mike Harris will spend part of the summer working on our next Legacy publication, celebrating Ventura County’s 150th anniversary. We are working with the County of Ventura, the Ventura County Community Foundation, the Museum of Ventura County and the Economic Development Collaborative as part of the overall 150th anniversary project. Look for our publication later in the fall.
Retaining and growth subscriptions using our hybrid print/digital model remains a priority and we are working closely with several partners to make improvements to our web experience. Later this summer, we will be launching a digital advertising effort to grow our subscriptions. To sign up, to learn about our group subscriptions or if you have questions, you can reach out to Debra Giles, our director of circulation, at circulation@pacbiztimes.com or dgiles@pacbiztimes.com.
Finally, the Business Times has a new home. We are located within the Workzones co-working space at 571 Paseo Nuevo, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. We’re just a few blocks from our previous location; our phone numbers and emails remain the same.
Henry Dubroff is the founder, owner and editor of the Pacific Coast Business Times. He can be reached at hdubroff@pacbiztimes.com.
