Welcome to the second issue of the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal.
As I write this, we are preparing for production day on the second day of the second month — 2-2-22. It seems so fitting, as the QCBJ represents a second chance for my staff and I to return to where we all began our careers — in community journalism.
But before I share more of that story, we want to extend a huge thank you to our new boss, John Lohman, the founder and group publisher of the Corridor Media Group. We are thankful for his vision, his investment and his risk-taking approach that led to the new QCBJ startup. The North Liberty, Iowa-based business that he owns with his wife Aspen, has published our sister publication Corridor Business Journal for nearly 18 years.
I’m particularly grateful for Mr. Lohman’s persistence as he courted me all summer to take on this new venture. And once I’d met his staff, I knew there was another chapter for my journalism career. A huge thank you to my husband John DeWitt who has stood by me through all the ups and downs and supported the decision to lead the QCBJ.
My veteran staff, which includes Senior Reporter Kenda Burrows, Content Editor Dave Thompson and Sales Consultant Dayle Hall, looks forward to carrying on the Corridor’s tradition of telling the region’s business and economic development stories. Together, my team has nearly 150 years experience in print journalism mostly in the Quad Cities region. Of my 35 years as a journalist, I spent nearly 25 years on the Quad City Times business desk. We plan to cover news impacting the business community all across this bi-state, six-county region — hence the “Regional” in our name.
In fact, we launched our online presence Dec. 1 on the same day that the region celebrated its greatest collaboration ever: the new Interstate 74 bridge. We joined thousands of Quad Citians as we basked in the sunshine of that grand celebration.
We want to tell those large success stories but also the small success stories, such as a story in this issue on Tappa’s Steakhouse and profiles of LuAnn Haydon and Rob Woodall, who are championing women in business.
We will have stories of unusual partnerships that lead to great things as well as stories of businesses that are growing, challenged by COVID-19 and other issues, and others that might inspire the next entrepreneur.
And we want to hear from you. Please spend some time reading us, consider a subscription, sign up for our daily newsletters. But most of all, engage with us and send us your thoughts, story tips and ideas and help us provide strong, timely and accurate coverage of our Quad Cities business community.
Those of you who know me — whether I toured your business or covered your city council in my previous career — know I like to champion the underdog. I’m proud of my eastern Iowa upbringing in Tipton (home of the only stoplight in Cedar County) and just as proud of my alma mater Marycrest College. We will bring that same enthusiasm and support as we work to become your source for business news across the region.
