Vermont paper revamps business coverage

Tom Brown, the Business Monday editor for the Burlington Free Press in Vermont, writes about how the paper has changed its business coverage.

Brown writes, “Like any business, we’ve retooled our product to meet the needs of our customers and our communities. The goal is to make our business coverage more local, and more focused on the small businesses that make Vermont’s economy run.

“According to the Vermont Economy Newsletter, only 2 percent of the state’s businesses are ‘large’ (those with 50 or more employees). That means entrepreneurs like Ken Bogdanowicz of Sound Toys Inc., featured on Page 4, employ the vast majority of Vermont’s work force.

“We hope to introduce you to as many small business owners as we can and share their uniquely Vermont strategies for success. At the same time we won’t forget the contribution of the state’s major employers, most of which reside in Chittenden County.

“You’ll find the content more people-oriented. We’ve introduced a feature in which we invite some of the state’s prominent business and public leaders to share ‘The Best Advice I Ever Got …’ Sen. Patrick Leahy kicks off the series today with a look at how the state’s farm community convinced him that diversification and the introduction of organic farming methods was key to preserving Vermont’s family farms. He listened despite finding little support in Congress for an idea that was ahead of its time.”

Read more here.