Martinez joins Florida Trend magazine

Amy Martinez, a business reporter who has worked in Seattle, Miami and Raleigh for the past decade, has joined Florida Trend magazine as an associate editor.

Florida Trend is a business magazine based in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“I think a lot of people in Seattle assumed that I was going back to the sunshine, but it’s really about the work,” said Martinez in a telephone interview with Talking Biz News on Friday. “I have had Florida Trend in my sights for a while. I thought it would be fun to cover Florida on a statewide basis.”

Martinez said she met with Trend executive editor Mark Howard and managing editor John Annunziata and came away impressed with them and the rest of the staff.

“I just got a great feel. And it will help me grow as a writer,” said Martinez. “It’s a great job and I feel honored to get it. It’s one of those rare journalism outlets that does meaningful work but is also doing well financially.”

Martinez has spent nearly eight years as a business reporter for the Seattle Times, covering the economy, job market and major Northwest retailers, including Amazon.com and Nordstrom.

Before that, she was a business reporter for the Miami Herald, The (Raleigh) News & Observer and the Palm Beach Post. She’s a Florida State University graduate.

Florida Trend made another recent reporter hire. Jason Garcia, formerly of the Orlando Sentinel, joined the magazine in June.