Business writing
Below are some business feature stories I wrote for the Duluthian, the magazine of Duluth’s Chamber of Commerce. Click on the image to see a PDF of the print article as it first appeared.
Just scroll down this page or use the links below to read the stories on my website:
Happy Workers
Brand Identity
Displaced UP miners retool careers in Twin Ports
This story originally appeared in the Duluth News-Tribune on Friday, December 27, 1996
by Tom Wilkowske
Three former copper miners from the Upper Peninsula are going the extra mile — 230 a day, actually — to retool their careers in Superior.
They commute daily from Bessemer, Mich., to study machine tool manufacturing at Superior’s Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, enduring fast-food breakfasts, several feet of snow and fatigue.
Federal displaced worker grants have made it feasible for them to remain at home to help their families while pursuing a chance at more stable employment.
It may not be easy.
Record industry wins second verdict against Minnesota woman
Note: this article orginally appeared on Bloomberg.com and is included here as a work sample by one of the authors, Tom Wilkowske.
By Susan Decker and Tom Wilkowske
June 19, 2009 (Bloomberg) — A Minnesota woman accused of swapping music over the Kazaa Internet service was ordered by a jury to pay Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group and other record labels $1.9 million after a retrial.
Education shapes Duluth’s economy
Education expands horizons. It nurtures the spirit and changes lives.
And it amounts to a mountain of economic activity, especially in Duluth, where two four-year colleges snd a host of post-secondary institutions combine with a robust public and private K-12 system to turn out thousands of graduates each year.
Education provides good jobs for teachers, support staff and administrators, and it educates students so they can become more creative, effective employees and entrepreneurs. But it’s more than that.
Educational institutions hire scholars who, besides teaching, fight disease, discover more efficient mining techniques and lift our souls with artistic expression. But it’s more than that.
