Creating a Connection in the Corridor

Three years ago, John Lohman (M.A. 1998) began a business plan as part of a University of Iowa MBA class. That plan has since materialized into a successful business weekly — the only business weekly in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City area.

The Corridor Business Journal features news concerning local businesses in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor and surrounding areas.

As publisher, Lohman said the Corridor Business Journal’s goal “is to provide local business news to local business owners.”

From its beginning stages, Lohman had his eye on one particular individual to lead the magazine.

Lohman met John Kenyon, University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumnus (B.A. 1992), while they both worked for The Gazette.

Kenyon, working out of The Gazette’s Iowa City office, worked with Lohman on ways to market The Gazette in the Iowa City area.

When Lohman began developing plans for the Corridor Business Journal, Kenyon said he frequently asked him to be editor as soon as he had finalized plans.

Since the weekly’s debut in July 2004, Lohman and Kenyon have been very happy with the publication’s success.

To date, the magazine sends out 5,000 issues each week, 3,000 of which are sent to regular subscribers.

“As a rule of thumb,” Lohman said, “you can estimate that each publication gets read by at least seven people, so it’s safe to say we’re reaching 30,000 people each week.”

Kenyon attributes the success of the magazine to Lohman’s thorough business plan.

While Lohman said he agrees that the business plan has played a significant role in their success, even “more important than that is the team I put together” to jump-start the publication.

The Corridor Business Journal staff is comprised of professionals ranging from new UI graduate Inga Beyer (B.A. 2004) to veteran journalists with years of experience at places like the Iowa City Press-Citizen and The Gazette.

The success of the publication really comes as no surprise to the two men.

Both Kenyon and Lohman said the magazine is filling a niche in the business community that has been underrepresented until now.

As for the future, Lohman and Kenyon are always re-evaluating their product and hope to continue on the same course.

Kenyon said that, while there are certain limitations with a specialized publication, he anticipates “bigger, better, more diverse, varied content” and looks to refine what they do.

“Anytime someone makes a decision with money,” Kenyon said, “it involves business,” and the Corridor Business Journal has worked to successfully illustrate that in print.

— Jennifer Moore