Richmond’s Monday biz tab was 4x the normal size

Gregory Gilligan, the business editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, sent Talking Biz News the following about the 30th anniversary of its Monday business tabloid:

We realized last fall that 2016 would mean the section would be celebrating its 30 years – an important milestone considering how so many other metro dailies have given up their standalone Monday business sections.

The section is going strong after 30 years. Readers and business people still regularly tell us how important the section is to them.

Metro Business typically is 24 to 28 pages each week, and full of advertising. It is the Richmond region’s go-to place for information on businesses. Over the three decades, the section has reported, profiled and analyzed Richmond-area businesses — of all shapes and sizes — and its major players.

We came up with a plan earlier this year to mark the anniversary two ways: 1) by publishing a special section that would honor the 30 people, the 30 companies, the 30 projects and the 30 products that have had an impact in the Richmond region in the past 30 years; and 2) honor those people and companies at a special breakfast event.

The special section ran on Monday, June 27, with the special breakfast event on Tuesday, June 28.

The section was 96 pages – our largest Metro Business section ever. We wrote stories that profiled  the people, companies, projects and products.

The event was a sellout with 420 people attending – at capacity at The Jefferson Hotel in downtown Richmond. Many of the people and companies who were honored attended the event, including the current president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and the immediate past president of the Richmond Fed.

Nancy Bagranoff, the dean of the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, was the keynote speaker. She talked about how businesses can sustain, adapt and remain relevant through the years.