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The New Business Beat

by Cherry Fisher May

**Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Written by Cherry Fisher May
**

After three years as a monthly supplement to The Independent Weekly,
Acadiana Business stands on its own. Welcome to ABiz.

The launch of a new or a redesigned publication is one of the most challenging ventures for any newspaper staff, but ours has handled the rebirth of Acadiana Business - now rebranded ABiz - without breaking a sweat...

**Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Written by Cherry Fisher May

After three years as a monthly supplement to The Independent Weekly,
Acadiana Business stands on its own. Welcome to ABiz.**

The launch of a new or a redesigned publication is one of the most challenging ventures for any newspaper staff, but ours has handled the rebirth of Acadiana Business - now rebranded ABiz - without breaking a sweat.  They've done great work. From our in-house graphics, edit, sales, distribution, business and business development departments to our outsourced printing vendor, everyone has had a hand in the process, and we are very excited to finally bring this dynamic new publication to you, our readers.

Why something new? After all, in less than three years Acadiana Business has become the region's essential executive information source, covering commerce in south Louisiana as no other, offering news and analysis from Acadiana's top reporters and insight from the area's most knowledgeable sources each month. We can boast a steadily growing base of advertisers and readers, but we serve one of the most vibrant and dynamic business communities in the South. Rest on our lead? Never!
Beginning with this issue, Acadiana Business becomes ABiz, with a new look, beefed up content and an enhanced distribution strategy that offers pin-point accuracy to the area's top executive decision-makers. We have a new size, a new logo and a complete re-design, presented on crisp, white paper stock in a stitched-and-trimmed format to enhance graphic appeal.

We're offering more in-depth reporting and expanded coverage of regional and state business news as well as additional features inside and, with its many story leads and entry points, our new cover design is the first clue. Less like a magazine and more like The Wall Street Journal, the new ABiz is a better mix of hard news and informed opinion pieces with a dash of focused features that reflect the range of interests of Acadiana's business leaders.

With a goal of efficiency for advertisers, our refined distribution strategy is tightly targeted. Our staff has personally culled a list of more than 15,000 business people, combing every resource at our disposal to develop our own A List' of business decision-makers. This is not an off-the-shelf list purchased from some direct mail house somewhere. We've reviewed every name on it. We will also offer ABiz in sleek, new racks in select locations in Lafayette and New Iberia each month.

Online, you'll continue to find ABiz in convenient click-and-turn format. In addition to direct access via www.abiz.com and www.acadianabusiness.com, you can also access the publication at www.theind.com alongside the many other niche and specialty pubs in our corporate stable. And, of course, subscribers to our morning news service The INDsider get their daily buzz of information and breaking news for free, including lots of business news.

We have a healthy respect for our readers and the businesses you run. We know that you set high standards for yourselves and crave reliable information to help you make good decisions. ABiz is committed to providing you a depth of knowledge that no other news source can provide to help you reach your goals. And we know how valuable that is in challenging times like these.