Giacomo Bologna
Giacomo “Jack” Bologna covers business and development for The Baltimore Banner, focusing on how major projects, corporate decisions and public–private deals translate into concrete financial and neighborhood impacts. His work spans downtown real estate, utilities, hotels, contractors and emerging industries, tying individual transactions to wider economic patterns and policy choices. He previously reported for The Baltimore Sun, the Baltimore Business Journal and newspapers in Mississippi and Missouri on beats including courts, government, health care and business, bringing that multi-beat experience into his current coverage.
Urban development deals and stalled projects
Bologna returns repeatedly to large redevelopment efforts and their fallout, treating each as a case study in how long-term planning meets political change and financial reality. His reporting on the Poppleton neighborhood dissects the city’s decision to choose an untested developer for a huge project, and then follows the consequences as that effort fails and residents sue both the developer and city leaders over a stalled revitalization plan.
In a related piece on why Baltimore cannot shake its controversial Poppleton developer, he traces the commitments and agreements that make it difficult for the city to unwind the relationship even as priorities shift. He also examines the drying up of the Baltimore-area development pipeline, charting how fewer projects move from proposal to construction and what that means for future growth and investment. Coverage of Harborplace and other downtown properties follows demolition plans, investor silence and project timelines, again foregrounding the intersection of private strategy and public expectations.
Across these stories, he keeps the focus on specific parcels, deals and dates while consistently connecting them back to questions of economic development, neighborhood stability and government responsibility.
Corporate, utility and contractor accountability
Another strand of Bologna’s work centers on accountability for corporations and public entities when their decisions impose costs on ratepayers and taxpayers.
In his reporting on BGE’s gas pipe replacement program, he presents a watchdog’s assessment that the utility is choosing “wasteful” projects and details how those choices affect customer bills and long-term infrastructure spending. A story on a city-owned hotel that has been losing money since 2008 breaks down the hotel’s financial performance and calculates the continuing cost to taxpayers, turning an abstract line item into a clear, ongoing liability. In coverage of a federal contractor bleeding $110,000 a month during a government shutdown, he follows the firm’s finances to show how national-level gridlock directly hits local businesses, payrolls and workers.
Across these pieces, numbers, contract terms and regulatory decisions are treated as central narrative elements; the reporting explains who pays, how much, and over what time frame, making complex arrangements legible to non-specialists.
Civic identity and landmark institutions
Bologna’s enterprise features often look at the institutions and narratives that give the region its civic identity and economic backbone. In his story marking 50 years since Baltimore adopted the “Charm City” nickname, he reconstructs how civic leaders and advertisers created the brand and examines what it represents in the city’s current reality.
His piece on the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins follows the lab’s evolution from an auto shop operation into Howard County’s largest private employer, detailing the growth in jobs and the lab’s significance in the local economy.
He pairs these narratives with coverage of city-owned assets like the Inner Harbor hotel losing money, showing how branding, tourism infrastructure and anchor institutions tie back to public budgets and economic strategy. The common thread is a clear link between stories about identity and place and the underlying flows of money, employment and political attention.
Emerging industries and major employers
Bologna also covers newer industries and growth companies, treating them as part of the same economic fabric as legacy institutions and real estate. In a feature on a Baltimore firm churning out naval drone boats “ready for war,” he explains the company’s technology, its position in the defense market and its role as a local employer, framing the story as both a business profile and an account of industrial change. His reporting on the Applied Physics Laboratory again underscores how specialized research operations scale into major private employers with significant regional impact. By following both advanced research and defense technology alongside hotels, utilities and redevelopment schemes, he presents a cohesive picture of a business landscape in which innovation, contracting and property deals all contribute to economic resilience and risk.
4 more business journalists.
Aaron Karp
Aaron Karp is distinct for connecting airline networks, airport infrastructure, air cargo and policy. He is a senior editor at Air Transport World and has covered aviation since 1999. He has also worked as an editor for cargo-focused and daily aviation publications. His real beat is how airlines and airports respond to growth, regulation, trade conditions, sustainability pressures and technology changes. He covers route planning, network development, airport capacity, infrastructure, cargo flows, trade lanes, safety, air traffic control and future technology. He reports through news, features, opinion pieces, briefings and podcasts. He uses data, executive insight and industry conference reporting to explain market changes. His work links cargo metrics and trade policy to carrier strategy, and connects infrastructure and sustainability decisions to resilience, costs and long-term growth.
Adrienne Roberts
Adrienne Roberts is a business journalist at the Detroit Free Press who covers how policy, regulation and corporate decisions affect Michigan’s cannabis market, jobs, universities and health systems. She has a sustained focus on cannabis taxes, licensing, sales, product rules, consumer safety and local tax revenue. She also reports on unemployment, worker protections, corporate settlements, hiring, higher education, student safety, housing, data centers, health care access and economic forecasts. Roberts joined the Detroit Free Press in 2020 after covering automotive retail, dealers and labor issues for The Wall Street Journal. She explains complex business and regulatory changes with data, legal detail and on-the-ground voices. Her stories focus on practical effects for workers, students, consumers and communities, showing both the numbers and the people behind them.
Alex Bronzini-Vender
Alex Bronzini-Vender is a business reporter who focuses on how economic forces and corporate decisions shape specific communities and industries. He covers business for the Washington Monthly, writing reported pieces at the intersection of commerce and public life. His work reflects the magazine’s emphasis on linking markets and money to power, policy, and everyday experience. He treats business not as balance sheets and deals but as choices that affect local realities. In “Fear and Loathing in Palo Alto,” he uses a city tied to the tech sector to examine how a powerful industry influences a community. He grounds his business beat in on-the-ground consequences rather than treating corporate and financial developments in isolation.
Alex DeMarban
Alex DeMarban stands out for tracking major energy projects over time while showing how economic shifts affect local businesses. He reports for the Anchorage Daily News on business, oil and gas, and general assignments. His coverage focuses on Alaska LNG, long-haul energy projects, mining, ports, transportation infrastructure, and the everyday businesses that keep the state running. He examines financing, tax legislation, labor agreements, regulatory approvals, timelines and costs, and connects government and corporate decisions to workers, communities and consumers. He also reports on restaurant closures, grocery stores, breweries, meaderies, parking and trade disputes. His past coverage includes an open-pit mine near the proposed Ambler road, federal port grants and competitive elections. He reports through dollar figures, project details, public records, business owners and affected workers, showing how policy and resource development play out on the ground.