Virginia Business wins 10 journalism awards

Virginia Business magazine won 10 awards, including three first-place honors, at the Virginia Press Association journalism competition.

Managing Editor Paula Squires, Senior Editor Jessica Sabbath and contributing writer Gary Robertson each won two awards.

The magazine dominated some categories, winning first and second in feature-writing portfolio and public affairs

Winning first-place honors were:

• Special Projects Editor Veronica Garabelli in the feature-writing portfolio category for stories about philanthropist Sherry Sharp, Virginia’s growing distilleries industry and the emergence of the “gig” economy;
• Squires in newswriting portfolio for stories about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Virginia’s biggest brands and the development of “middle college” at Virginia’s community colleges;
• And contributing writer Robert Burke in public affairs for a story about growing national scrutiny of economic incentives.

Squires also won a third-place award for headline writing.

Sabbath took two second-place awards, in public affairs for a story about Virginia’s efforts to become the nation’s best-educated state and in business and financial writing for an article about the growing need to widen and deepen channels at the Port of Virginia.

Robertson was second in feature-writing portfolio — with stories about baby-boomer retirement, growing competition among supermarkets and a profile of a former Miss USA who is in the U.S. Army Reserve —and won third place in in-depth or investigative reporting for a group of stories about veterans transitioning to nonmilitary jobs.

Artist Matt Brown won third place in illustrations for his cover for Robertson’s veterans project, while contributing writer Richard Foster won third-place in general news writing for a story about short-term rentals.