June is designated by some entity or another (I couldn’t determine which) as National Camping Month, and if you’ve got a touch of spring fever yourself, an outdoorsy angle might be just what you need for a fresh-air look at some of your region’s leisure-economy drivers. It’s hard to beat camping and boating stories for [...]
I’ve been fortunate to do a bit of traveling lately, putting in plenty of road time in the southeast and midwest. One phenomenon that struck me was a number of fresh, new-looking signs offering commercial real estate for sale, lease and/or custom development. And closer to home, I’ve observed signage changes at some long-vacant parcels [...]
Many would-be workers are starting internships this time of year. In pondering some angles for business writers, I started thinking about the tension in today’s jobs market. There are older workers not yet ready to abandon their positions and legions of entry-level people and college grads who (according to a number of essays, online comments [...]
Automakers will release May new-vehicle sales next week, and reports say the results are expected to be spectacular: NPR reports that sales so far this year are on track to hit 16 million, a level not seen since 2002. And the Associated Press has reported that U.S. automakers say they will curb the traditional two-week [...]
Father’s Day still is a few weeks away; it falls on Sunday, June 16 this year. Already I’ve run across a couple of amusing promotions and products if you’re taking a retail approach to the observance, so figured I’d pass them along a bit early. Here’s a history of Father’s Day from the Old Farmer’s [...]
If you’re casting about for a fresh take on jobs and the employment scene, pull up a seat for my annual suggestions for mining the temporary and contract markets. As well as being fertile ground for a variety of stories, from career and personal finance how-tos, to colorful features on quirky and unique job niches, to [...]
With the deadly Oklahoma tornados still top of mind — some meteorologists now say the storm had far more power than the atomic bomb the United States released on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II — you might want to contemplate another day or so of related business angles. Even if you’re far from the [...]
It’ll be a while yet before the true toll of the past days’ destructive tornados in Oklahoma is known but you may be wondering about how to tackle the business and financial angles of a disaster. I can’t provide as many links as usual to stories you may want to emulate, because they haven’t been written [...]
It’s hard to believe we’re only a week away from the start of Memorial Day weekend. As summer activities kick into gear, so do the businesses that serve them, so no matter your beat you’ve got a bonanza of holiday-related story ideas from which to choose. Traditionally, it’s a time for business writers to look [...]
