New hires made at Cincinnati Enquirer business desk

The Cincinnati Enquirer business news department has hired two new reporters, according to an e-mail announcement by business editor Carolyn Pione sent to staff members on Tuesday.

The moves come days after the Enquirer fired investigative business reporter Jim McNair in what has been a controversial decision among business journalists.

In the e-mail, Pione wrote, “I am very pleased to announce that we have hired Lisa Bernard as a business reporter. Her beats will include residential and commercial real estate.

“Lisa lives in Cincinnati already and works as a business reporter for the Dayton Daily News, covering commercial real estate, economic development, small business and housing. She has worked for Cox for five years and worked at the Journal News in Hamilton with our colleagues Dave Niinemets, Mike Kurtz, Jessica Brown and Carrie Cochran. While there she won best news writer and best enterprise reporter in the Associated Press-Ohio awards and best reporter from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists. I know you will join me in welcoming her when she arrives on Sept. 10.

“Also, we are aggressively seeking an accomplished reporter to cover Procter & Gamble and downtown development. We are still accepting applications, so please tell me asap if you know someone we should contact.

“And we also are welcoming features copy editor and restaurant writer Stepfanie Romine to business as well. Stepfanie joins our team with great enthusiasm for covering retail and restaurant news and trends and will be working closely with John Eckberg and Randy Tucker to learn the business side of those beats. She’ll start on Sept. 17, and we’re thrilled to have her.

“Meanwhile, Cliff Peale, as you know, is moving to Local as of Monday to cover higher education and the business of health care, although he will occasionally help with business projects.”