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June 26, 2017

WBJ named best designed biz journal in country

The Worcester Business Journal won six industry awards Saturday, including first for Best Overall Design and third Best Newspaper, all in the small publication category.

The six Alliance of Area Business Publishers awards WBJ won this year was the most the company has won in any single year, besting 2001 when WBJ won five.

"AABP is comprised of the best business journals from around America, Canada and Australia, and we strive every day to hit their collective high standard," WBJ Editor Brad Kane said. "Winning six awards for so many aspects of our operations is both humbling and empowering."

Overall, AABP named WBJ as the third Best Newspaper, bestowing the Bronze Award in the small newspaper category.

"This is a really good newspaper covering interesting topics in fresh ways," the judges from the University of Missouri wrote. "Photography was great throughout, from covers on to inside pages. Graphics are used informationally, not for decoration."

WBJ Associate Art Director Mitchell Hayes won the Gold Award (first place) for Best Overall Design, after redesigning the WBJ print edition starting with the Sept. 26, 2016 issue.

Staff Writer Laura Finaldi won two Silver Awards (second place) for Best Explanatory Journalism for her story on the 2016 Massachusetts energy bill called "New offshore wind requirement leads to price worries" and for Best Local Coverage of a National Economic Story for her story about how immigrants impact the Worcester economy called "Land of Opportunity: Foreign-born business owners boost Worcester." No other writer in all of AABP won more than two journalism awards.

Former WBJ Digital Editor Sam Bonacci won the Gold Award for Best Scoop for his "Greendale Mall value plummets 77%, foreclosure possible" breaking news coverage of the drastic economic downturn the Greendale Mall had taken.

The entire WBJ staff won the Gold Award for Best Ancillary Publication for the special supplement "A Guide to STUFF Made in Massachusetts" which focuses on the Central Massachusetts manufacturing industry, including its job opportunities and specialty products.

"WBJ has a relatively small staff, all who operate at the top of their game in a number of ways to use their talent and hard work to create the best possible publication for the Central Massachusetts business community," Kane said. "It is amazing to watch every day and fantastic an organization such as AABP would see how that translates into all our products."

For the awards, 43 publications from the U.S., Canada and Australia submitted 483 entries, which were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

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