Thirteen years ago, in partnership with my longtime colleague Peter Stanton, we started New England Business Media LLC.
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Thirteen years ago, in partnership with my longtime colleague Peter Stanton, we started New England Business Media LLC.
I was just back from Australia, after spending a magical sabbatical year there with my family. For Peter, and for me, owning the titles we had helped build for so many years was the culmination of a dream.
We published Mainebiz, Worcester Business Journal and Hartford Business Journal. In the intervening years we added products like New Haven Biz and STUFF Magazine, and excised others that had run their course.
We survived, we innovated and thrived, through the Great Recession, right up through the current stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the many challenges, I couldn’t be prouder of what we have accomplished together.
Bittersweet as many transitions are, at the end of June, I stepped down from my longtime role as president of NEBM, and publisher of the Hartford Business Journal.
It is the right time for me to move on. The Hartford Business Journal and our other titles are in very capable hands.
Peter Stanton remains as CEO, and Tom Curtin, who joined the Hartford Business Journal as chief revenue officer last October, has acquired my shares, taking a 50% ownership stake in the company.
Tom will run New England Business Media’s Connecticut operations, assuming the role of president and publisher of Hartford Business Journal and New Haven Biz. He comes to the Connecticut marketplace with deep industry knowledge, a truly impressive track record, and perhaps most importantly, an unparalleled love of media, specifically the B2B space.
He is capable, deeply committed and enthusiastic about driving what we have built to new heights.
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote: “There are no second acts in American lives.” I don’t know if that was ever true, but it certainly isn’t now.
Despite the upheaval of the moment, more of us than ever before are blessed with the energy and good health (knock wood!) to vigorously and passionately pursue encore careers. I certainly hope to make the best of mine.
First, though, I’ll travel a bit, should COVID-19 allow, improve my conversational Spanish, and maybe climb a mountain in Mexico with some dear friends (Iztaccihuatl). After a good rest to recharge, I’ll get to work defining a new passion project for the next 10 years or so. Maybe grow a ponytail. (Kidding on the last one.)
I’ll miss the day to day at the Hartford Business Journal; the media business is — on good days, and most are — fun. The many relationships with the business community forged through common purpose mean the world to me, and I hope to maintain them.
Thank you all for your support and friendship. The work that the excellent staff of the Hartford Business Journal, and all of our titles do is noble and important. I can’t say enough about the dedication and commitment that our people bring to their work every day, and I’m both humbled and deeply grateful.
These are unprecedented times. We will get through them and emerge stronger. Wishing all of you the best of luck wherever your futures take you, and whatever second act you seek, or which ultimately finds you.
Please stay healthy, and stay in touch! I’ll be around.
Joe Zwiebel
JosephZwiebel1961@gmail.com
774-230-8486 (mobile)
