How a biz journal publisher helped the editorial side

Andy Giegerich, the managing editor of the Portland Business Journal, writes about how retiring Journal publisher Craig Wessel helped the editorial side with some ideas.

Giegerich writes, “Starting with the obvious, he’s certainly a masterful newspaper operator, one who regularly and deftly crafted new ideas to help the PBJ bustle over the last 20 years. That’s a period, of course, that was anything but kind to our profession.

“To wit, Craig launched Sustainable Business Oregon about 10 years ago. It became a phenomenon, a veritable community builder that assembled and gave voice to a growing segment that craved information and congregation. The leaders I met at SBO functions were ‘SBO people,’ and proud of it. As it turned out, SBO did its job a little too well: The techniques and ideas it covered became common practices among all businesses, and, with the gospel effectively spread, the publication went away in 2015, having served its purpose well.

“Craig next came to us with an idea called How Oregon Works, which, during the jobs boom of the last decade, helped businesses uncover talented workers and, as important, manage them effectively. HOW, as we call it, is a long-running staple in our print arsenal and, like SBO, has launched myriad popular events while building an ancillary community.”

Read more here.