So, after six years managing the Times’ weekly papers in southeastern Connecticut, I’m back as The Day’s business editor, planning to bring more local content to the Sunday Business section as well as writing the news and features for the day.
Adlaw recently decided to reduce the Times from nine to three papers while also reducing the amount of content in each of the editions. From here on out, The Norwich Times will be delivered to homes in Greater Norwich, including people from Preston and Ledyard who previously received The Thames River Times, while the Mystic Times will include people from Stonington, North Stonington, Groton , Mystic and Noank . Newspapers covering Lymes, Salem, Waterford, New London and Montville will be consolidated into a weekly called The Times.
The good news is that starting next week the Times will be included in the daily paper again for subscribers who get The Day midweek. Many people appealed to the Times as if it was the right thing to do.
I’ll still work at the Times, but the reduced number of editions will free me up to do more stories on the local business community. I’ll be working hard to find out what’s going on with Millstone, Pfizer Inc., the local banking community and the frenzy surrounding the new era of wind turbine manufacturing, among other topics.
For those of you I have never met, I can sum up my experience as “almost everything.” I was the layout editor and news editor of The Danville Register in Danville, Va., before coming to The Day in 1979. Since then, I have been a city reporter, copy editor, Regional editor, Page editor One, Sunday editor, Marketplace. magazine editor and senior business reporter.
I also started The Times papers 20 years ago as the first managing editor. During COVID, I launched The Norwich Times, which was widely popular, and brought in many new columnists while also designing and paginating many other editions.
I have also taught journalism at three different colleges: University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut College and Mitchell College. And I’ve done podcasts, newsletters, tennis columns, general columns and even video reports for The Day.
I have met many great people over the years and have had the opportunity to create some amazing stories. I have also won many awards, including five first-place statewide business writing awards over a 10-year period and the Theodore Driscoll Award for Research Excellence. A few years ago, I was named a fellow by the National Press Foundation.
One of my most interesting experiences involved covering the failure of New London Security Federal Credit Union, where an elderly investment manager was accused of embezzling more than $10 million over at least two decades. So my first story as business editor came last week as a bit of deja vu when I wrote about recent national bank failures and their potential impact locally.
You see, after 45 years in journalism, I’m still hungry for stories. So if you have one, no matter how small, please contact me at l.howard@theday.com, or call my cell at 860-964-0597. I’ll get back to you!
You can send business briefs, as always, to businessbriefs@theday.com. We’re always looking for stories about people who are thriving and doing new things, not to mention new startups and business expansions.
And, as always, thanks for trusting me with your stories. I promise to report them as accurately and fairly as possible. It’s a privilege to be back on the business beat!
Lee Howard is The Day’s business editor.
