Welcome to a new BizWest

What do you think?

It’s been more than a year since our company, BizWest Media LLC, combined the Boulder County Business Report and the Northern Colorado Business Report to form BizWest. This new publication serves one of the most dynamic regions of the country, covering Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties.

Communities within our region boast a wealth of industries that make up the core of our coverage: agribusiness, aerospace, banking, clean tech, energy, health care, high tech, natural products, outdoor, real estate, retail and tourism.

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This combined market includes a population of almost 1 million, with business activity crossing county lines as never before. As we’ve settled in with the merged publication, we have seen our Web traffic skyrocket. Our three daily electronic newsletters are more robust than ever.

But an expanded coverage area also requires that we rethink the print edition itself, to breathe new life into a medium that still retains significant value – and readership. We believe that we’re on our way.

This edition of BizWest – in addition to new fonts, graphics and typography crafted by our Design Director, Steve Miller, represents a complete rethinking of a print business journal. We sought to capture what works best in print versus online. That includes an in-depth enterprise package leading off the front cover, devoting multiple pages to a single given topic.

Sometimes, that cover package will focus on a trend of importance to the entire four-county region, such as this issue’s look at health-care construction, mergers and acquisitions. Other times, it might focus on a single company, city or neighborhood. Our intent is to add perspective, to show not only what is happening but also why it’s happening, and what it means.

One important change that readers will notice is the return of geographic sections to this publication. Yes, we are a regional publication, and, yes, we see every day that businesses in Boulder are doing business in Fort Collins, etc., etc. But we also realize that people in Greeley want to read about companies in Greeley, too. So geographic sections will be presented, usually two per issue in a rotation.

Another way to breathe new life into the print edition – and our website as well – is by bringing in additional voices. Whether reading the geographic sections, industry sections or an expanded commentary page, readers will see many more faces and opinions on our pages.

One of the top goals of the BizWest editorial team was to focus on the exciting startup sector in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado. That will be evidenced in Startups, a new section that will appear every issue. Our Real Deals section will showcase the most significant real estate sales, leases and developments.

New to the paper is Econowatch, highlighting the latest economic statistics and demographic reports.

Readers provided many of the ideas for the new BizWest, and we want more ideas, suggestions and feedback. What other features would you like to see? What are we doing well? Where can we improve?

Again, what do you think?

Christopher Wood can be reached at 303-630-1942 or 970-232-3133 or via email at cwood@bizwestmedia.com.