Our Business

Getting coverage: Patience pays

Posted on 01 February 2010 by Elaine

I got a news release from Floor Coverings International literally about five minutes after I had finished scheduling interviews for a piece last year about companies doing well in the down economy. Its Lewiston location was thriving, according to the news release.

Much as Floor Coverings International would have been spot on for the piece, I stuck with the three businesses I had already chosen since I didn’t want to break promises to them. We ran the news release in Business Profile where the Tribune features in-house awards.

The owners of Floor Coverings International appreciated the coverage in Business Profile and didn’t complain I hadn’t chosen them for the Sunday story.

Fast forward to last week. I decided to do another article on the same theme because of what had landed on my desk in January. The Moscow Food Co-op had issued a news release about its strong performance. Tim Lynch at My Architect had called to tell me about his success. Read more about one of his projects here.

But for the story to have enough depth I needed a third and Floor Coverings International was the first call I made. And yes they had had another good year. Read about the success stories that ran Sunday here. Read the success stories from last year here.

The way the Jan. 31 article evolved is pretty typical of the main stories for the Sunday Business Section Front. One person tells me something interesting about the business he or she runs. Then I wait to see if I can find at least two other examples of it to make a story stronger. It can be a frustrating wait for the business owners, but the Tribune tries to provide as many businesses as possible good exposure.