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A BridgeTower to the future

On July 31, Virginia Business turned the page on a new chapter in our 38-year history as the magazine became part of the BridgeTower Media family of companies.

Headquartered in neighboring North Carolina, our new parent company is a portfolio company of Los Angeles private equity firm Transom Capital Group. BridgeTower owns 40-plus B2B media and research brands, including Virginia Lawyers Weekly and Best Companies Group, our partner for the annual Best Places to Work in Virginia awards program.

“It’s great to be able to add the core business audience in the nation’s best state for business to our growing portfolio,” BridgeTower Media President and CEO Hal Cohen said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “We see an opportunity to accelerate the growth of Virginia Business — and of business in Virginia — by leveraging the power of BridgeTower Media’s audience platform and best-in-class capabilities. We look forward to delivering even more value to readers and advertisers in the years ahead.”

Virginia Business’ former owner and publisher, Bernie Niemeier, sold the magazine to BridgeTower, taking a well-earned retirement following a business career that spanned six decades. Previously an executive for Media General, the now-defunct media company that founded Virginia Business in 1986 as the Old Dominion’s only statewide business publication, Bernie became the magazine’s publisher in 2007, purchased the business from Media General in 2009 and became its sole owner in 2017.

A 2018 Virginia Communications Hall of Fame inductee, Bernie was a well-known mainstay of the state’s business community and frequently could be seen representing the magazine at events across the commonwealth. During his 17-year tenure as Virginia Business’s publisher, the magazine introduced annual products like our Big Book issue and the Maritime Guide.

In a statement about the sale, Bernie said, “Hal and the BridgeTower Media team demonstrate again and again that they know exactly how to help media properties thrive in today’s digital world. I made this decision thoughtfully, and I know my team is in good hands. I look forward to seeing Virginia Business grow even further as it continues to serve the nation’s best state for business.”

As for what this all means for you, our readers, in the coming weeks you’ll see a revamped Virginia Business website and newly redesigned newsletters. Next year, we’ll begin launching new events and awards programs, while maintaining popular ones like Women in Leadership, Virginia’s Top Doctors and Best Places to Work. For our advertisers, we will be offering new opportunities to better help you reach your customers, and we’ll also be able to leverage BridgeTower’s national family of publications so you can put your message in front of far larger audiences.

And of course we will continue to deliver compelling, timely and informative coverage of Virginia’s business community to you through our daily news website, our monthly issues and annual special publications like the Virginia 500.

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Speaking of the Virginia 500, polybagged with this issue you’ll find the fifth annual edition of this annual special publication featuring our exclusive list of Virginia’s top 500 leaders in business, higher education, nonprofits, government and politics.

Divided into 21 categories, including a Living Legends section recognizing lifetime achievement, this year’s Virginia 500 features a new breakout section for the insurance industry, which has been separated from banking and finance.

Starting with the first edition in 2020, the Virginia 500 instantly became our most popular product with readers and advertisers in the magazine’s history.

With a word count roughly equal to four of our regular monthly issues, the Virginia 500 is a labor of love — emphasis on labor — for our editorial staff. We began work in earnest on the 500 in April, and five months later, through the hard work of a team of 16 writers and editors plus production staff, it’s now available on your device screens and in your mailbox.

Take your time to browse through our fascinating mini profiles of Virginia’s 500 most powerful and successful executives. We’re confident that you’ll come away not only with some useful business intelligence, but with a far better sense of the movers and shakers behind Virginia’s top industries.

Virginia Business wins national awards for writing, design

Virginia Business won two national journalism awards Saturday during The Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ (AABP) 2022 Editorial Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Columbus, Ohio.

Former Virginia Business Deputy Editor Rich Griset placed silver in the Best Body of Work, Single Writer category for feature articles including his May 2021 cover story profile of MicroStrategy Inc. CEO and bitcoin whale Michael Saylor, who declined to be interviewed for Griset’s story, and his December 2021 profile of Bruce Thompson, the Virginia Business Person of the Year.

“Adding a creative spark to the dogged reporting seems to be Rich Griset’s hallmark,” the judges said in their remarks for Griset’s silver award. “His profile of a rising crypto chief also shows an ability to ferret out stories and other details after the executive refused to cooperate. A profile of an influential hotel developer showed a deft touch for getting the most of a cooperative subject. His writing ability was on full display in a piece on the renovation of aging shopping malls, including one that was used to shoot a pivotal scene in ‘Wonder Woman 1984.’”

Virginia Business also received a bronze award for Best Overall Design — Magazine for issues produced during 2021. The judges singled out Virginia Business Art Director Joel Smith’s use of “humorous illustrations, consistent portraits and real people [to] provide a wonderful representation of real business in Virginia. The photography and artwork are consistent and relevant to the content. The department pages are simple and professional, the features provide a pop of visual fun, and the overall page designs exemplify a great sense of hierarchy.”

The awards were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. The awards ceremony was held as part of AABP’s three-day annual conference.

Founded in 1979, AABP is a Norwalk, Connecticut-based nonprofit organization representing about 65 regional and local business publications in the United States, Canada and Australia, with a combined circulation of more than 1.8 million business professionals.