Knoxville assistant biz editor leaving paper for real estate job

Josh Flory, the assistant business editor of the Knoxville News-Sentinel, is leaving the paper on Friday to join a local real estate firm.

Flory writes, “While Property Scope hasn’t typically indulged in nostalgia, this week is an exception because Friday will be my last day at the paper. On Feb. 9, I’ll be joining commercial real estate brokerage NAI Knoxville.

“In many ways it’s a natural transition. I’ve covered Knoxville’s real estate scene for years, and all that writing planted a seed: I’ve come to see buildings, streets and the rest of the ‘built environment’ as catalysts for healthy, vibrant communities. The opportunity to be part of that process, and learn the business from Maribel Koella and the NAI team, was too good to pass up.

“But leaving newspapers also is a chance to reminisce. The great thing about being a reporter is that it opens doors which, under any other circumstance, would be closed and locked tight.

“My first job out of college was at a daily newspaper in Columbia, Mo. Two years after graduating, I covered the U.S. Senate race between then-Gov. Mel Carnahan and incumbent Sen. John Ashcroft.”

Read more here.