COLUMN: Flathead Journal 2.0 coming Monday

Twenty-five years ago, I was the wire editor at the Daily Inter Lake, and watched the launch of a brand new publication called the Flathead Business Journal.

The first issue came out on June 28, 1991. I didn’t know it at the time, but my career would soon take a dramatic turn as I first became contributing editor, then managing editor of the FBJ, as we affectionately called it, and eventually managing editor of the Inter Lake.

Today, I am proud to still be at the helm as we announce a vibrant new publication to succeed the FBJ. The Flathead Journal will continue its predecessor’s commitment to covering business news in the Flathead, but we will add reporting and commentary on community news of general interest to the mix.

The first issue will be in Monday’s paper. I hope you’ll check it out.

Familiar features such as the business Newsmakers and On File listings of official liens, bankruptcies and incorporations will continue under new titles; however, you’ll also enjoy our much broader approach to covering people in the news. The Flathead Journal will still tell you what’s happening on Main Street, but also takes you behind the scenes for the rest of the story.

The Flathead Business Journal was started by former Inter Lake publisher Tom Kurdy and editor Dan Black, along with contributing editor David Hipschman, a journalist who had moved to the Flathead from San Francisco. Originally published twice a month, it was delivered directly to 4,000 businesses and became the newspaper of record for business happenings in Northwest Montana.

I took over as the main copy producer and contributing editor with issue No. 9 on Nov. 1, 1991. One of my first stories was about the new golf course community at what was then called Glacier Village Greens and is now better known as Village Greens. I also wrote about the “high-tech digital technology” that was allowing companies to streamline customer service with a newfangled thing called “voice mail.” Yep, I’m so old I was there when voice mail was young.

Over the years, some of the best writers at the Inter Lake had a hand in producing copy for the Business Journal. Some of you will remember the names of William Spence, Nancy Woodruff, Nancy Kimball, Jim Mann, David Reese, Jackie Adams, Heidi Gaiser. They all took turns, along with many others, writing about the growth of the Flathead Valley’s business community. Seaborn Larson, who has been the most recent reporter for the FBJ, continues his presence in the Flathead Journal along with Editor Lynnette Hintze.

We think you’ll like the changes. Let me know.

By the way, I’ll also have a column in the inaugural issue of the new Journal, which you can read tomorrow. A bonus for my faithful readers: Compare the current picture of me with the one from the early 1990s. Times change, but the editor just keeps getting better. At least that’s what my wife tells me.