 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1982; 43 years ago (1982)[1] |
| Founder | Mike Russell |
| Headquarters | Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Whitney Shaw (chairman andCEO) |
| Products | Magazines newspapers mass media |
Number of employees | 1,400 (2021)[2] |
| Parent | Advance Publications (1995–present) |
| Website | acbj |
American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based inCharlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishesThe Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market's edition named for that market, and also publishesHemmings Motor News andInside Lacrosse. The company is owned byAdvance Publications receives revenue fromdisplay advertising andclassified advertising in its weekly newspaper andonline advertising on itswebsite and from asubscription business model.
Thebizjournals.com website, using the overarching online titleThe Business Journal, contains local business news from various cities in the United States, along with an archive that contains more than 5 million business news articles published since 1996. As of August 2021,[update] it receives over 3.6 million readers each week.[3]
American City Business Journals, Inc. was founded in 1982 by Mike K. Russell with the launch of theKansas City Business Journal.[1] Three years later the business became apublic company via aninitial public offering and was traded as anover the counter stock.[1] Starting 1985, ACBJ set out to acquire as many as fifty business newspapers across the United States. The goal was to establish a network of newspapers selling national advertising packages.[4]
In 1986, ABJC acquired all the publications owned by Mark Vittert and his company, Business Journal Publications Corp, for $40 million. The sale included business journals in Cincinnati, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and St. Louis.[1] Later that year American City merged with Scripps Howard Business Journals. At the time the division ofScripps-Howard Newspapers operated publications in 10 cities: Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Washington, D.C and Miami/Fort Lauderdale.[5]
After expanding to 35 weeklies, ABJC faced mounting debts and losses reaching $13.5 million in the first nine months of 1987. This resulted from sales of national advertising packages falling short of goals amid the1987 stock market crash. The company began divesting in 1988. ACBJ sold eight publications to various unnamed buyers, including five business newspapers in Westchester, Rochester, Richmond, Hartford and Southern Connecticut;St. Louis Magazine and partial-ownership of two legal papers:St. Louis Daily Record andSt. Louis Countian.[6] Two weeks later ACBJ sold another six of its business newspapers in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and San Jose and Sacramento to Metro Collegiate Publications for $46.3 million.[7] Then Russell sold his controlling stake in the company.[8]
In 1989, Shaw Publishing, Inc., owned byRay Shaw and The Oklahoma Publish Co., purchased a million shares of common stock in ACBJ for $22.75 million. Shaw was then elected as the company'schairman andchief executive officer. Previously he retired earlier in the year from working as president ofDow Jones & Company.[9] Shaw served as ABJC's chairman for two decades. Under his leadership, the company moved its headquarters fromKansas City, Missouri, toCharlotte, North Carolina, and greatly increased the number of its publications.[2] In 1995, ACBJ was acquired byAdvance Publications forUS$258.8 million (equivalent to $472.8 million in 2023).[10] A year later ACBJ acquired CityMedia Inc., which published six business journals in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Sacramento.[11]
In 2001, the company partnered withMicrosoft to provide content for bcentral.com.[12]
In 2007, the company acquiredInside Lacrosse.[13]
In 2012, sister companyCondé Nast redirectedPortfolio.com to the startups page of ACBJ.[14]
In 2020, the company launched a book publishing partnership.[15][16][17]
The publication publishes the following annual awards for each city:
As of 2023[update], American City Business Journals (ACBJ) publishes print copies of 44 different newspapers, addressing business news in 44 different cities, generally under the namesCity orRegion name +Business +Journal (33 cities) orFirst (5) orTimes (2) orChronicle (1) orCourier (1) orNews (1) orReview (1).
| Title | City | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Albany Business Review | Albany, New York | Founded in 1974 asCapital District Business Review. Also previously known asCapital District BusinessReview andThe Business Review. |
| Albuquerque Business First | Albuquerque, New Mexico | Formerly known asNew Mexico Business Weekly until the name was changed in December 2012.[22] |
| Atlanta Business Chronicle | Atlanta, Georgia | Acquired in 1986 from merger withScripps Howard Business Journals.[23] |
| Austin Business Journal | Austin, Texas | |
| Baltimore Business Journal | Baltimore, Maryland | Acquired in 1986 from Business Journal Publications Corp.[1] |
| Birmingham Business Journal | Birmingham, Alabama | Founded in 1983 by Michael C. Randle and Tina Verciglio-Savas. Acquired in 1999.[24] |
| Boston Business Journal | Boston, Massachessets | Founded byRobert Bergenheim and launched on March 2, 1981. The newspaper was originally named "P&L The Boston Business Journal" ("P&L" stood forprofit andloss). However, "P&L" was later dropped from the name.[25] Acquired in 1996 with purchase of CityMedia Inc.[11] |
| Buffalo Business First | Buffalo, New York | |
| Charlotte Business Journal | Charlotte, North Carolina | |
| Cincinnati Business Courier | Cincinnati, Ohio | Acquired in 1986 from Business Journal Publications Corp.[1] |
| Columbus Business First | Columbus, Ohio | |
| Dallas Business Journal | Dallas, Texas | Acquired in 1986 from merger withScripps Howard Business Journals.[23] |
| Dayton Business Journal | Dayton, Ohio | |
| Denver Business Journal | Denver, Colorado | Acquired by ACBJ in 1989 |
| Houston Business Journal | Houston, Texas | Acquired in 1986 from merger withScripps Howard Business Journals.[23] |
| Jacksonville Business Journal | Jacksonville, Florida | |
| Kansas City Business Journal | Kansas City, Missouri | The first publication of the eventual ACBJ, co-founded by Michael K. Russell and William Worley in August 1982.[26] |
| Louisville Business First | Louisville, Kentucky | Founded on August 13, 1984, by publisher Mike Kallay.[27] |
| Memphis Business Journal | Memphis, Tennessee | Founded by Ward Archer asMid-South Business in 1979.[28] |
| Milwaukee Business Journal | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Acquired in 1996 from CityMedia Inc.[11] |
| Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Acquired in 1996 from CityMedia Inc.[11] |
| Nashville Business Journal | Nashville, Tennessee | |
| Orlando Business Journal | Orlando, Florida | Founded in 1984.[29] |
| Pacific Business News | Honolulu, Hawaii | Started by entrepreneur George Mason and formerHonolulu Star-Bulletin editor John Ramsey.[30] In 1983, Mason sold the newspaper to ACBJ. |
| Philadelphia Business Journal | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Founded in 1982, acquired in 1996 with purchase of CityMedia Inc.[11] |
| Phoenix Business Journal | Phoenix, Arizona | Founded in 1980. Acquired in 1986 from merger withScripps Howard Business Journals.[23][31] |
| Pittsburgh Business Times | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Founded in 1981,[32] acquired in 1986 from Business Journal Publications Corp.[1] Sold in 1988.[33] Reacquired in 1996 with purchase of CityMedia Inc.[11] |
| Portland Business Journal | Portland, Oregon | |
| Puget Sound Business Journal | Seattle, Washington | Acquired in 1986 from merger withScripps Howard Business Journals.[23] In 2010, the newspaper was a finalist for aPulitzer Prize.[34] |
| Sacramento Business Journal | Sacramento, California | Acquired in 1996 with purchase of CityMedia Inc.[11] |
| St. Louis Business Journal | St. Louis, Missouri | Established in 1980 with Dan Keough at the helm; acquired in 1986 with purchase of Business Journal Publications by ACBJ.[1] |
| San Antonio Business Journal | San Antonio, Texas | |
| San Francisco Business Times | San Francisco, California | Acquired in 1986 with purchase ofScripps Howard Business Journals.[23] In 2008,East Bay Business Times was merged into theSan Francisco Business Times.[35] |
| Silicon Valley Business Journal | San Jose, California | Founded asSan Jose Business Journal |
| South Florida Business Journal | Miami, Florida | Founded in 1980 asMiami Business, it changed its name in 1983.[36] Acquired in 1986 from merger withScripps Howard Business Journals.[23] |
| Tampa Bay Business Journal | Tampa, Florida | Founded asTampa Bay Business in 1981, renamed for a period starting in late 1990s asThe Business Journal Serving Tampa Bay. |
| Triad Business Journal | Greensboro, North Carolina | Founded by ACBJ in 1998.[37] |
| Triangle Business Journal | Raleigh, North Carolina | |
| Washington Business Journal | Washington, D.C. | Acquired in 1986 from merger withScripps Howard Business Journals.[23] |
| Wichita Business Journal | Wichita, Kansas |
