Some of the work by the staff of The Quad Cities Regional Business Journal that earned three top journalism awards – including a Best Newspaper award – from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers (AABP).
The 2025 AABP Editorial Excellence Awards recognized the QCBJ with a bronze in the Best Newspaper category as well as silver for Best Beat Reporting: Tech and Innovation, and bronze for Best Overall Design, presented Friday night, June 20, during the AABP annual conference in Ottawa, Canada. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION TODD WELVAERT
The Quad Cities Regional Business Journal captured three top journalism awards – including a Best Newspaper award – from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers (AABP). The 2025 AABP Editorial Excellence Awards recognized the QCBJ with a bronze in the Best Newspaper category as well as silver for Best Beat Reporting: Tech and Innovation, and […]
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The Quad Cities Regional Business Journal captured three top journalism awards – including a Best Newspaper award – from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers (AABP).The 2025 AABP Editorial Excellence Awards recognized the QCBJ with a bronze in the Best Newspaper category as well as silver for Best Beat Reporting: Tech and Innovation, and bronze for Best Overall Design. The awards were presented Friday night, June 20, during the AABP annual conference in Ottawa, Canada. The QCBJ, founded in late 2021 by John and Aspen Lohman, and its sister publication Corridor Business Journal (CBJ), based in North Liberty, Iowa, won a total of nine AABP awards. Both publications competed in the small publications division. The business journals are owned by the Corridor Media Group. Mr. Lohman is the CEO and president. In the Best Newspaper category, the judges said this about the QCBJ: "The publication’s rich community focus highlights unusual businesses and offers good explanatory pieces on such diverse topics as a prison education program and a center to help nonprofitssucceed. Consistent design and the bold use of large images made the “Women of Influence” feature a visual standout."The QCBJ’s bronze award for Best Overall Design recognized these QCBJ team members: Jennifer DeWitt, editor; Kenda Burrows, senior reporter; Dave Thompson, content editor; Todd Welvaert, news clerk; freelancer Jan Touney; as well as the Corridor Media Group’s Becky Lyons, and Julia Druckmiller, who design each bi-weekly edition for the QCBJ and CBJ.
What the judges said
“Each issue delivers clean, striking visual moments through expressive typography, strong photography, and clear structure,” the judges wrote. “The Women of Influence feature is a standout, breaking from convention with elegant design that honors its subjects while maintaining a consistent, balanced aesthetic throughout.” The Best Beat Reporting award recognized a series of QCBJ stories on technology and innovation, which the judges said “showcases how tech can play a role enhancing one’s quality of life, such as a playful new way to order a pizza, and scratches below the surface to show how innovation lies beneath what could have been more ordinary business-expansion stories.” The QCBJ’s sister publication CBJ also was recognized with a silver for Best Newspaper; two gold awards for Best Feature Single Story – The Caitlin Clark effect by Richard Pratt, and Best Beat Reporting: Tech and Innovation (gold). It also received bronze for Best Podcast – "Real Success with Nate Kaeding" – and silver for both Best Coverage of Local Breaking News and Best Explanatory Journalism.
