Tomer Ronen
Tomer Ronen is a business reporter at the Lincoln Journal Star who covers how local companies, employers and corporate actors shape life in and around Lincoln. His work moves between new storefronts, workplace recognition programs and the business dimensions of environmental incidents, treating each as part of the local economic ecosystem. He tends to anchor stories in specific businesses and sites, showing how decisions made by owners, utilities and employers play out for workers, customers and nearby neighborhoods.
Local business openings and commercial development
Ronen spends a significant share of his time on openings, relocations and new concepts entering the market, especially in food, drink and entertainment. In his coverage of a new sports bar taking over the former Wonderbowl site, he details the scale of the venture, from more than 40 TVs to the expectations that come with a name built around being “the greatest of all time.” That piece tracks how the operator plans to use the location and amenities to attract patrons, framing the bar as both a tenant in a redeveloped property and a competitor in the local hospitality market. His Biz Buzz column on a new Mexican restaurant, a local developer salute and other items follows a similar pattern, packaging multiple small but concrete developments into one report so readers can see several shifts in the business landscape at once.
Across these stories, he focuses on who is opening or expanding, what they are offering and how they fit into existing corridors and consumer patterns.
Small retailers and consumer trends
Beyond restaurants and bars, Ronen pays attention to niche retailers and the demand trends behind them.
In his story on the “vinyl revival” and its effect on record store sales in Lincoln, he uses local shops to illustrate how renewed interest in physical music formats is showing up in revenue. The article links national taste shifts to specific businesses, explaining how owners stock inventory, respond to customer preferences and interpret the resurgence as an opportunity for growth. He keeps the frame on the business implications of a cultural trend, treating record stores as case studies in how independent retailers adapt to changing consumer behavior.
Corporate activity and its community impact
Ronen’s business beat also extends into corporate testing, infrastructure and environmental events when they carry economic and regulatory consequences.
His reporting on Antelope Creek turning red starts with the visual shock of the water change and moves quickly to which entities are responsible and how authorities respond. The follow-up story, explaining that wastewater from Black Hills testing caused the discoloration, traces how a utility’s actions intersect with public health oversight and environmental standards.
Across the pair, he reports closely on the investigation, the findings from the health department and the role of the company involved, showing the business side of an incident that might otherwise be treated solely as a curiosity or environmental story. This strand of his work highlights how he handles corporate accountability on the local level, emphasizing concrete causes, named facilities and official responses.
Workplace recognition and employer culture
Another recurring lane in Ronen’s coverage is workplace culture and employer reputation, approached through formal recognition programs. In the piece announcing finalists for the Best Places to Work in Lincoln awards, he lists the firms honored and outlines the partnership between legal, HR and media organizations that run the program. The article situates these awards within the broader business community, showing which employers are being highlighted and underscoring the importance of work environment as a competitive factor.
By covering this kind of recognition, he gives attention not just to products and services but to how companies treat their employees and seek public validation for internal practices.
Government and community reporting foundation
Ronen’s current business coverage rests on earlier experience reporting on government and community issues for a Texas-based local news organization. In that role he covered topics such as bank branch renovations and local public affairs, building familiarity with how municipal decisions, corporate investments and neighborhood concerns intersect. Professional biographies describe additional work in sports broadcasting and feature writing, as well as a collegiate journalism award, giving him a mix of hard-news and narrative experience that shows up in the structure and sourcing of his business stories.
Across his present and past work, he tends to ground coverage in clear reporting on who is acting, what is changing on the ground and how those changes matter to the communities where the businesses operate.
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.