Welcome to my office

Oh brother, yet another blog. Just what the world needs.

But this time, the subject is business. L.A.-area business, to be exact. It’s terrain that gets woefully little attention within the local media, unless gasoline prices start taking off or the monthly home sales numbers are released. Then, suddenly, business is a big deal. Actually, it’s a big deal seven days a week because what we’re really talking about is money, a subject all of us can understand.

At this new outpost, LABizObserved, my mission will be to provide a kind of clearing house for what’s going on in the local business world, how it might impact the economy, and why we should care. With any luck, I hope to do all that in a way that will have you coming back for more. I happen to think that business news is some of the most interesting news around. There’s greed and power and occasional corruption, of course, but there’s also the honest pursuit of the American Dream. Sounds corny, but when somebody with little or no money comes up with a cockamamie widget, and the thing takes off, it’s kind of inspirational. The marketplace works wonders.

A little about me: I’ve been covering L.A.-area business for more than 20 years, most recently as editor of the Los Angeles Business Journal. Before that, I was a senior editor at Forbes, reporting on media and entertainment. I also spent a number of years at the Daily News, where I was business editor, editorial pages editor and a columnist. There were a bunch of other newspapers, but I’ll spare you. Point is I’ve been doing this for a while. And yes, I have opinions, although I will try to keep them to a dull roar.

The structure of LABizObserved will be similar to LAObserved: reporting, linkage and comment. I will try to avoid overlapping with LAObserved, although it will probably happen from time to time. I’ll be posting when I see or hear about something noteworthy, which I hope will be every business day.

The best way to reach me is by e-mail (Mark@LAObserved.com). Just know I’m not a press release kind of guy. There are exceptions, but not many. By the way, you’ll notice a number of posts below from the last couple of days. Just to get my feet wet.