12/26/2012

BusinessNorth will begin developing seniors-related business coverage in 2013. The stories will examine issues that are important not only to older adults but also to the businesses and nonprofit organizations that serve them.

Senior affairs touch virtually every reader of BusinessNorth. That includes those who have reached senior status themselves, or are approaching it, or those who have aging parents. Simply put, older adults are big business.

We'll focus our coverage on specific themes. For example:

First quarter — home care, a booming business as older adults choose to remain living on their own, with a little help.

Second quarter — Alzheimer's disease and memory care. A story of heartbreak and hope for older adults and their families and the institutions that care for them.

Third quarter — Senior discounts. They're everywhere, but you have to know where to look. And you'll find some surprises.

Fourth quarter — Medicare supplements and prescription drug insurance. Life at insurance agencies large and small goes nuts in the fall with the arrival of open-enrollment periods. The scene will get even more chaotic this year with the arrival of health exchanges. This will be Medicare 101 — and then some.

We're calling these quarterly packages Senior Connections. Producing the packages will be a veteran (and venerable) journalist, Larry Fortner.

Fortner is a longtime north country resident with an even longer journalism career. After stints in newsrooms in Indianapolis, Boca Raton, Fla., and Lexington, Kye, Fortner came to Duluth in 1979 as managing editor of the Duluth News Tribune (and the late Duluth Herald). A year later he became editor of the Duluth papers.

He left daily newspapering in January 1988 and later that year became the founding editor and publisher of The Senior Reporter, a monthly magazine. He served in that capacity for 20 years before selling The Reporter in 1997. Along the way, he also developed a successful freelance editing and writing business. Customers include the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association — and BusinessNorth.

We look forward to this new next step in our relationship with Fortner, just as we look forward to presenting this new coverage to you.

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