BusinessTN

Each month, BusinessTN magazine chronicles some of the important personnel changes occurring at businesses and organizations across the state of Tennessee. While any type of hiring, promotion or resignation qualifies for inclusion, announcements are deemed of particular merit when they convey an actual positive business development taking place in the state—for instance, the establishment of a new banking presence in a region through the hiring of a branch officer.

This month, BusinessTN has its own appointment to announce, and it too speaks to a positive business development in Tennessee. Staff writer Katie Porterfield, the writer of this month’s cover story on the multibillion-dollar business that is casino gambling in the Southeastern United States, is the newest member of BTN’s editorial team.

Porterfield’s name should already be familiar to BusinessTN readers. Prior to joining the staff full-time in May, she contributed several important articles on a freelance basis, including the February 2007 cover story on water issues in Tennessee and the April 2007 cover story on St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital CEO Bill Evans. A graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Porterfield received a master’s degree from the University of Alabama School of Journalism. Prior to her recent relocation to Nashville, while working as a regional reporter at the Tuscaloosa News, Porterfield penned a six-story, three-day series of articles on Alabama’s catfish industry, earning a business news award for medium-size papers from the Alabama Associated Press Managing Editors in 2006. That same series went on to earn the organization’s news writing sweepstakes award, selected from among the first-place winners in each category.

Adding an award-winning writer to the staff at BusinessTN is more than just a personnel move. It’s another sign of our commitment to continuing to produce a top-rate business publication for Tennessee and its executive leadership.