Four Star-Tribune biz reporters have new beats

Four Minneapolis Star-Tribune business reporters are now covering new beats.

Nicole Norfleet is now covering retail, including Target, Best Buy, the Mall of America and other malls. She has been with the Star Tribune since July 2010 and also spent time on the metro desk. She is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate.

Kavita Kumar is now covering the economy, financial services and manufacturing reports. She previously covered retail but then spent a year as a Knight-Bagehot fellow at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has been at the paper since May 2013, and previously worked as a retail and consumer affairs reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Dee DePass is now covering commercial real estate, Norfleet’s old beat. She previously was the paper’s manufacturing reporter, covering companies such as 3M and Essar Steel. She has been at the paper since 2000 and previously covered banking, workplace issues and economics.

Jackie Crosby is now writing about workplace issues. She previously was a general assignment business reporter and sometimes wrote about retail. Crosby has been at the paper since 1994 and previously worked at KSTP-TV as a special projects producer.