The Greater Wilmington Business Journal collected eight awards at the Alliance of Area Business Publishers' 2023 Editorial Excellence Awards banquet held Monday evening in Detroit. 

The AABP is an organization that represents nearly 60 business publications across the U.S., Canada and Australia. 

“The awards recognize how hard the Business Journal’s editorial team works to cover the region throughout the year and the time and creativity that goes into our design,” said Business Journal editor Vicky Janowski. “The recognition is well deserved. This year was particularly notable because of the number of individual awards for our newsroom. Assistant editor Cece Nunn, reporters Johanna Still and Miriah and designer Suzi Drake were each highlighted for their contributions, and the Bronze award for best overall newspaper in our category size reflected the full team’s efforts.”

The awards were judged by faculty of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Submissions were judged against other publications of a similar size. Click here for a full winner’s list. 

Below is a rundown of the awards, which recognizes work published in 2022: 

Bronze: Best newspaper – small tabloids

• Judges' comments: “Readers are treated to extensive coverage of local breaking news packed into a small tabloid format. Front pages are cleanly designed and use centerpieces to highlight the main stories. Many of the news stories are forward looking and capture what readers need to know.” 

Category awards (for small category)
Gold: Best ancillary publication – WilmingtonBiz Magazine’s Real Estate issue (a double-sided issue: residential and commercial) 

• Judges' comments: “This creative dual publication – one half focusing on commercial real estate and the other half residential – features strong covers, good typography and colorful snippets to capture readers’ attention. The content is well-rounded with writers unafraid to delve into issues, such as the affordable housing crisis.”

Silver: Best beat reporting, real estate 

• Awardee: Assistant editor Cece Nunn 
• Judges' comments: “The breadth of the reporting on this beat by this reporter really sets it apart, from stories about hotel ownership and development issues to the housing affordability crisis.”

Silver: Best beat reporting, economics and finance 

• Awardee: Reporter Johanna F. Still
• Judges' comments: “Making sense of the numbers behind economic development is a daunting task, but this coverage explains it all to readers with clarity and purpose. The collection includes profiles of the people behind the numbers as well.”

Gold: Best explanatory journalism – Wilmington’s airport readies for its next phase

• Awardee: Reporter Miriah Hamrick
• Judges' comments: “Breaking down the push and pull between airport fees, airline ticket prices, passenger volume and rental revenue, this story clearly explains the long-term growth strategy of a regional airport and its impact within the regional transportation system.”

Gold: Best coverage of local breaking news – Wilmington East Wind Energy Area leased for $315M

• Awardee: Still
• Judges' comments: “Infrastructure and utilities can often be a topic of little interest, until they aren’t, and what this story does is reveal in comprehensive but understandable detail, giving a clear look not just at what the wind farms will bring, but what the larger economic development will mean. This is a strong example of process reporting and how that can lead to rewarding coverage of a story that affects more people than may even be aware.”

Silver: Best overall design

• Awardee: Drake
• Judges' comments: “Lead art and story deliver strong covers. Images enhance the promos and Index package. Subscribe Now is a smart small feature on the cover. Photography is displayed well, throughout the book., especially with the Business of Life packages. One of the strongest elements is the clean, colorful Economic Indicators info graphics on Page 3. Page topping subject/department labels are effectively sized and placed to make navigation quick and easy. The Top Inbound Moves list is an interesting and useful info box, highlighting where new residents and businesses are coming from.”

(All newspaper markets category)
Silver: Best use of photographer/illustrations

• Awardees: Art Designer Suzi Drake, T.J. Drechsel, Michael Cline Spencer, Madeline Gray, Daria Amato, Brianne Wright, Mark Weber
• Judges' comments: “Documentary images effectively show people out doing things. A variety of environmental portraits also beautifully depict their subjects in a relevant manner. Photos are well sized on the pages. Illustration examples are whimsical and informative.”