SBJ earns two newspaper awards

Springfield Business Journal was recognized in the Best Newspaper and Best Scoop categories in the Alliance of Area Business Publications' 2009 Editorial Excellence Awards during the June 25-27 Summer Conference in Minneapolis.

SBJ earned a gold award for Reporter Matt Wagner's scoop, "Community bank files for state charter," about former Signature Bank and BancorpSouth executives who filed for a bank application on behalf of Springfield First Community Bank. SBJ also received a bronze award for Best Newspaper, which considered three issues in 2008 chosen at random. Both awards were in the small tabloids category.

The annual AABP competition presented 108 awards to regional newspaper and magazine business periodicals. Fifty-six publications submitted 552 entries in the competition, which was juried by 30 faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Here's what the judges said about SBJ's awards:

Best Scoop
"Wagner uncovered a big secret in town - that three former executives of a recently acquired local bank were forming their own bank, after months of quiet fundraising. Wagner was first to break the story that the consortium had raised $2.4 million in seed money in startup costs for the new bank - on their way to raising $22 million."

Best Newspaper
"This paper offers good enterprise stories. The news value feels consistent throughout. There isn't a big drop-off after the cover in content. Designers use the full range of tools to offer a straightforward presentation."

Last year, SBJ won an AABP gold award for Best Feature Layout, and has collected six awards since 2005.