Regional B2B newspaper earns 4 national and 4 state awards

Southwest Florida Business Today named ‘Best of Show’ from 3,000-member national association

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (May 7, 2009) – A regional business-to-business newspaper has hit the journalism jackpot, winning a total of eight awards in national and state competitions.

At the national level, Southwest Florida Business Today (SWFBT) has been named the first place winners in both the “Best of Show” and “Most Improved Publication” categories by the Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP). SWFBT also won first place in “Advertising Promotion” for its “Disaster Services 411” issue, and second place for “Best Agency Ad, Full Color.”

At the state level, Community Papers of Florida (CPF) earned an Editorial Award for Excellence in the News Story category. Business writer Joyce Schenk won “Honorable Mention” for a story highlighting the agriculture industry’s battle to eradicate citrus greening.

Other CPF awards include First Place honors for SWFBT publisher K.P. Moore's "Marketing First Aid Kit" in the "Out-of-Home Media" category, which she uses as a takeaway promotion at marketing seminars sponsored by SWFBT; and two Honorable Mentions, one for a house ad in the "Advertising Promotions" category, and another in the “Out-of-Home Media” category for a flyer Moore designed with Shell DeForge of Get Groovy, a full-service marketing firm in Fort Myers.

SWFBT covers business news in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties – a particularly challenging geographic area because of its economic diversity. It is, however, an area that has grown in solidarity to meet the economic challenges facing the business community – from recession to corporate recruiting, from educating the workforce to planning for future growth.

The newspaper made numerous enhancements in design and journalistic content since its first issue published in October 2007. The results began to pay off last year when the paper became the only Florida B2B publication to win state awards, one for editorial and another for advertising promotion at CPF’s Awards for Excellence presentation.

While acknowledging that her staff has worked hard to continually improve the look and quality of SWFBT, Moore confessed to being especially surprised by the “Best of Show” designation at the national level.

“We have been intensely focused on making our publication better over the past year, more relevant, more useful and more enjoyable for our readers,” she said. “So we believed we had a shot at ‘Most Improved. However, I did not expect us to garner the amount of points required to win ‘Best of Show.’ That was a most pleasant surprise. It’s rewarding to know that others in the industry regard us so highly.”

AFCP represents publishers of nearly 3,000 free-circulation community papers, reaching nearly 45 million homes weekly across the United States. According to the organization, its members come from all areas of the industry. Many are independently owned and operated, some with as few as a handful of employees, while others are quite large – including those that are parts of the largest media companies in the country. Niche publications include parenting magazines, seniors publications and alternative newsweeklies. Some focus on specific advertising categories such as real estate, automotive or miscellaneous merchandise; others are complete community newspapers reporting on the entire breadth of news within their communities.

CPF is a similar association representing publishers of more than 125 free-circulation community papers, reaching approximately 5.2 million homes weekly.

For more information about SWFBT, call (239) 573-9732, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit the Web site at www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com.