Virginia Business wins four national awards

Virginia Business won four awards, including one gold and one silver, in a national business journalism competition on Saturday night in Nashville, Tenn.

In a contest sponsored by The Alliance of Area Business Publications, the magazine won a first-place, gold award for best headlines, a second-place silver for best magazine cover, and two third-place bronze awards for best magazine feature layout and best explanatory journalism.

The gold award for 2012 magazine headlines by Managing Editor Paula C. Squires, Special Projects Editor Jessica Sabbath and Editor Robert Powell was presented in the contest’s “open” competition among business newspapers and magazines.

The silver award for best magazine cover was presented for a design by Art Director Adrienne R. Watson using an illustration by Richmond artist Matt Brown in the October 2012 issue, “Peering over the fiscal cliff.”

The bronze award for best magazine feature layout involved a Watson layout using a photo of a natural gas flame for the cover story in the July 2012 issue, “Virginia’s burning issue.”

Freelance writer Gary Robertson won a bronze award in open competition for best explanatory journalism for “Who’s minding the store?” in the November 2012 issue. The story looked at the ripple effects of an aborted attempt to oust the president of the University of Virginia.

The competition drew more than 570 entries in 37 categories, eight of which were exclusively for business magazines. The judges were journalism faculty members at the University of Missouri.