Last month, Smart Business received a First Place award for “Best Business Publication in Ohio” in the Excellence in Journalism competition, sponsored by the Press Club of Cleveland and judged by Press Clubs nationwide.
This is the top honor for a business magazine in Ohio, and as executive editor, I couldn’t be more elated or more proud of our editorial and production staffs for putting together a consistently strong magazine 12 times a year.
Journalists are notoriously bad self-promoters because we spend our time writing about others’ successes and often forget about our own. So I’d like to introduce you to the editorial and production people who are the ones responsible for our capturing this prestigious award.
Kim Palmer is managing editor. She joined Smart Business in 2000 and works with photographers, covers the manufacturing, health care and accounting beats, and pens covers stories. She received a second place award for her December 2002 cover story on corporate philanthropy.
Todd Shryock is senior editor. He joined as a reporter in 1996 and is a key member of the Cleveland and Akron/Canton editorial team, covering the technology, banking and finance, and HR beats.
Morgan Lewis Jr. came aboard in 2000 and is senior reporter. Morgan writes cover and feature stories, and manages the real estate, and management and executive education beats. He captured a first place award for feature writing and an honorable mention for investigative business journalism.
Sue Ostrowski is associate editor. She joined in 1998 and reads every piece of editorial copy written by reporters and editors in all four of Smart Business‘ market cities. She also writes many of the magazine’s special reports.
Jim Mericsko is design director. Jim has been here since 1995, and designs magazine covers and develops the look, feel and theme of the publications each month.
Julie Sweany joined Smart Business for a second go-around late last year as graphic designer. She works with Jim to design editorial pages and create eye-popping ads for advertisers.
Mary Kay Bukowski, our advertising coordinator, has been a crucial member of the production staff since 1994. Not only does Mary Kay work with advertisers to ensure their ads look and say what they’re supposed to, she also helps determine the non-photographic artwork that accompanies stories.
Publishing high-quality business magazines each month requires the efforts of many. Without their hard work and dedication, it’s difficult to imagine we’d be celebrating this award for journalistic and editorial excellence.
