The Fort Collins Coloradoan, a Gannett paper, has added a standalone business news section five days a week.
Executive editor Lauren Gustus tells Talking Biz News:
We conducted a reader survey and found a desire for more business news was second only to a desire for more local/community news. This was a primary driver as we looked at building out a standalone section.
However, demographics were also a significant factor: for the next 25 years, Northern Colorado – including Fort Collins – is projected to be among the fastest growing regions in the country. The city itself will be “built out” by 2040. Much, if not all, of the development that is happening and will happen soon can be classified as “business” news.
Previously, we featured a single business page in the A section six days a week and a section on Sunday. With the redesign, we’re offering standalone business sections on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays (with a Homes focus), Saturdays and Sundays. On Wednesday, the biz page is looped into the main as it was previously.
We’ve got one reporter focused on real estate/health care/local biz and another who is focused on growth and making sense of the numbers (data visualizations, layering people into what can be dense/number heavy pieces). Both are well read in the digital space.
New components include a series called “It’s Made Here;” local stock offerings in a larger, easy-to-read font; and regular data snapshots (existing home sales data, sales & use reports, etc). This is, of course, in addition to daily enterprise/news reporting.
The two business reporters at the Coloradoan are Pat Ferrier and Adrian D. Garcia.
