Patti Zarling
Patti Zarling reports on the business and economic life of Manitowoc County, tracking how local companies, property deals and the restaurant scene reflect broader shifts in the community. She writes for the Herald Times Reporter as a reporter, combining transactional detail with accessible storytelling and regular reader input. Her coverage spans real estate transfers, corporate changes, infrastructure projects, retail and restaurants, and everyday money stories that show how economic decisions play out for local residents.
Real estate transfers and high-value Manitowoc County sales
A core strand of Zarling’s work is a recurring Exclusive series on Manitowoc County real estate transfers, where she compiles weekly lists of properties changing hands and highlights the top sale prices. In these pieces she walks readers through transfer fees and shows how to translate them into purchase prices, such as explaining that a $5,550 fee on an industrial bulk storage and loading area corresponds to a $1.85 million sale. The coverage is built around clear lists of buyers, sellers and property descriptions, giving a straightforward view of who is investing where and at what scale. By focusing on industrial sites as well as residential properties, she ties real estate activity to the manufacturing and logistics footprint of the area. Her approach emphasizes utility: readers can see the numbers, understand how they are calculated and connect individual transactions to broader economic patterns in the county.
Coverage of local companies from Cedar Crest Ice Cream to Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry
Zarling regularly profiles key local companies and industry developments, from food brands to heavy manufacturing. She has covered the sale of Cedar Crest Ice Cream to new owners, detailing how the Hoffmann Family of Companies acquired the business, how leadership would transition to Renato DePaolis, and how the company would remain in family stewardship as the prior owners moved toward retirement. Her reporting explains corporate transactions in plain terms, linking ownership changes to what they mean for manufacturing plants, employees and customers.
In a separate story on Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry being named Metalcaster of the Year, she outlines why the foundry received the honor, including its acquisitions, digital transformation efforts, modernization projects and employee-focused policies.
That piece situates a local manufacturer within national industry recognition while still grounding the narrative in specific operational choices. She also follows industrial assets beyond corporate awards, such as covering the departure of the “Big Blue” crane from Manitowoc Harbor to Hawaii and describing how major equipment moves affect the port and local industry connections.
Across these company stories, she keeps the emphasis on concrete changes - ownership, facilities, technology, workforce - rather than abstract business jargon.
Savor Manitowoc and the restaurant scene
Alongside her business coverage, Zarling helps anchor the Herald Times Reporter’s Savor Manitowoc series, an award-winning feature that spotlights local restaurants. In this role she and fellow reporter Alisa Schafer visit establishments such as Zorbas, sampling gyros and gyro burgers and describing the experience in detail, from menu highlights to hours and location.
The series is framed as a mission to try every restaurant in Manitowoc County, with more than 50 visited since 2018, and it blends service information with first-hand impressions. Her work also maps the broader restaurant and retail landscape, including guides to antique, vintage and resale shops in Manitowoc County that point readers to local treasure-hunting destinations. Beyond reviews and guides, she tracks openings, closings and new concepts, contributing to coverage of new restaurants, dual-branded chains and evolving dining options in the area.
Through these pieces she treats the food and retail scene as part of the local economy, showing how individual businesses shape streetscapes, consumer choices and neighborhood identity.
Reader callouts and community reactions on business issues
Zarling’s reporting often incorporates direct reader participation and public sentiment, particularly on business and development topics.
She has curated lists of the most-read stories in Manitowoc, highlighting how features on ice cream brands, local donut shops and even a wandering bear captured audience attention over a given month. In a reader callout asking which closed Manitowoc restaurants people miss most, she invites residents to share memories of long-gone establishments, then plans coverage based on those responses. Her story on a proposed Chick-fil-A on Calumet Avenue is built around community reaction, citing more than 100 comments on the Herald Times Reporter’s Facebook post and capturing the full range from enthusiasm for waffle fries to calls for higher-paying employers and different dining options.
That piece also details the status of city approvals, zoning, and communication from the company’s media representative, balancing public opinion with procedural facts.
In other work she connects everyday life and finances, such as reporting on a local Megabucks winner who claimed nearly $4 million, and exploring seasonal weather outlooks that affect how residents plan for summer. This blend of reader voices, regulatory context and personal stories gives her business reporting a community-driven feel while keeping it grounded in verified information.
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.