The following freelance writers contribute content regularly to Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Jane Bokun
Jane Bokun is an award-winning freelance writer. She has written articles for People Magazine, AARP and Chicago Magazine. She also was the managing editor of Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly (now Northwest Indiana Business Magazine) from October 2013 through January 2016. She was a content manager for KTBS – TV in Louisiana, and a reporter/editor at Gannett's USA Today Network and the Tampa Tribune.
Lauren Caggiano
Lauren Caggiano is a journalist, copywriter and editor. She works with local, regional and national publications as well as small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofits, to bring stories to life. She is a graduate of the University of Dayton. View some of Lauren's recent work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Bill Dolan
William Patrick “Bill” Dolan was born and raised in New Albany, where he attended and graduated from New Albany High School in 1967. He attended Indiana University Southeast in Jeffersonville and graduated at Indiana University Bloomington in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He was a staff writer for The Post-Tribune from 1972 to 1997, covering feature news, local government and Lake County criminal courts in Crown Point. From 1997 until his retirement in 2019, he was a staff writer at The Times of Northwest Indiana, covering Crown Point schools, U.S. District Court in Hammond and Lake County government, as well as feature and business writing. He has made his home in Northwest Indiana since 1972, with his wife, Mary Sue (Skees) Dolan, and their children Marissa (Dolan) Gale and Sean Dolan.
Michael Gonzalez
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance writer. He also teaches nonprofits and small businesses how to share their stories so they can help more people through his Best Nonprofit PR Method. He often describes himself as “a recovering reporter” after serving as a correspondent for a local news media company for more than 25 years. Michael started Steel Shores Media in 2019 to work with nonprofits and governmental agencies. Michael has a degree in communications from Valparaiso University, and he lives in Lake Station with his family.
Alex Keown
Alex Keown is a Chicago-based professional reporter and editor with more than 20 years of experience writing for newspapers, online business news sites, journals and magazines. His work has been featured in multiple publications, including The Chicago Tribune, BioSpace, BioBuzz, Patch.com, The Naperville Sun, My Suburban Life, The Wilson (Daily) Times, Fur World Magazine, Clef Notes Journal and more. View some of Alex's work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Michael Puente
Michael Puente, a professional journalist with 18 years experience, works full time for WBEZ 91.5 FM Chicago Public Radio. He covers politics, environment and features in Northwest Indiana, southwest Michigan and Chicago’s South Side. For 11 years, Michael wrote for the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana. Michael also spent two years writing for the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill., covering Chicago’s northwest suburbs. Michael is a contributing writer for Cafe Latino Lifestyles Magazine in Chicago and an adjunct faculty instructor at Calumet College of St. Joseph in Hammond. Since joining the staff of Chicago Public Radio, Michael has received numerous awards, including 2008’s “Best Reporter” by the Indiana Associated Press Broadcasters Association. Michael earned a bachelor of arts in Journalism from Calumet College of St. Joseph in Hammond. Michael resides in Merrillville, Ind., with his wife, Grace, and daughters Stephanie and Jessica. He is also a big White Sox, Bears and Bulls fan. View some of Michael's recent work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Doug Ross
Doug Ross is an award-winning journalist with 40 years of experience in Northwest Indiana. Ross is a native Hoosier and a graduate of Valparaiso University. View some of Doug's recent work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Kerry Sapet
Kerry Sapet has been a freelance writer for more than 20 years. She has written for newspapers, magazines, websites and the children’s publishing market. Sapet is the author of more than 30 books for children and young adults. She has a degree in journalism from Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College. Sapet is a Bloomington, Indiana, native, and lives in the Chicago area. Read more of Kerry's most recent work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Patricia Szpekowski
Pat Szpekowski is president of PR Strategies & Communications Inc. in Elgin, Illinois, a full service advertising agency/public relations firm she founded in 1987. Pat enjoys storytelling and capturing the essence of people, places, businesses and nonprofits. She enjoys wearing two hats as an award-winning accredited public relations professional and freelance journalist. She has received recognitions from the Illinois Woman's Press Association, National Federation of Press Women, Catholic Media Association and the Northern Illinois News Association. Pat strongly believes in community outreach. She is involved in active participation, support, membership, volunteerism and leadership in various professional and community organizations. Pat won third place in specialty articles in the business category for her story, “Legacy of Daughters,” from the Illinois Woman’s Press Association. View more of her recent work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Marie Wilson
Marie Wilson has worked in local journalism and communications for more than a dozen years. She has received reporting awards from the Chicago Headline Club, Illinois Associated Press Media Editors, the Hearst Journalism Awards Program and the Daily Herald, where she covered suburban news, government and business for 10 years. Wilson has a degree in news-editorial journalism from the University of Illinois and lives in suburban Chicago.
Other writers
Readers also will find work from the following freelance writers who have contributed content to Northwest Indiana Business Magazine in the past.
Christopher Adam
Christopher Adam is a freelance journalist, writer and editor with experience working in television, digital and print. He also is a volunteer crisis counselor and mental health advocate. Adam is a Northwest Indiana native with a degree in communications from Purdue University. Read some of his work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Larry Avila
Larry Avila is an award-winning journalist with more than 25 years of experience working at daily newspapers and business-to-business publications around the Midwest. He was the managing editor of Northwest Indiana Business Magazine from 2018-2022. Larry, a graduate of Central Michigan University, is a Michigan native who enjoys college and professional sports. He is a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, and Detroit Lions. View some of Larry's work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Elizabeth Davies
Elizabeth Davies is a business journalist with more than 20 years of industry experience. She has written for newspapers, magazines, radio, television news, online publications and social media outlets. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, where she studied print journalism. Based in the south Chicago suburbs, Elizabeth moonlights as a stay-at-home mom/Uber driver to four children. She enjoys figure skating, swimming, travel and solitary walks through the aisles of Target. View some of Elizabeth's work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Laurie Davis
Laurie Davis has been a storyteller for more than 30 years: first as a community journalist and then as an editorial leader in higher education. In her 18-year career at the University of Chicago, Davis led a bi-monthly print publication and later managed the news flow for the university news office’s website. Davis is an associate of Peterson Rudgers Group, a higher education communications consulting firm. She has written for Upwork clients and writes for Columbia Business School's website and alumni magazine. Davis previously worked for 10 years as a journalist and editor with Star Newspapers in Tinley Park, Illinois, earning awards from the Illinois Press Association and the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Northern Illinois University. Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Daniel I. Dorfman
Daniel I. Dorfman is a Chicago-based freelance journalist, mainly concentrating on news from a series of Chicago suburbs. Over the years, he has written extensively about municipal government, local politics, schools, sports and health care policy. View some of Daniel's work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Annemarie Mannion
Annemarie Mannion is an experienced journalist who has written about business, technology and a variety of other topics for a major daily newspaper as well as business to business publications. She grew up in Michigan City, Indiana, and is a graduate of St. Mary’s College-Notre Dame. Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Carrie Napoleon
Carrie Napoleon is an experienced freelance journalist and media consultant. Carrie has more than two decades of experience working with both daily and weekly newspapers in Chicago’s south suburbs and in Northwest Indiana, including the Post Tribune/Chicago Tribune. Her previous roles include serving as assistant business editor for Star Newspapers/Midwest Suburban Publishing Co. in Tinley Park, Ill., and as managing editor for Great Lakes Publishing Inc. in Portage, which published six weekly newspapers, including the Hobart Gazette, Merrillville Herald, Portage Journal, Crown Point News, Winfield News and Valparaiso News. Read some of Carrie Napoleon's work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Philip Potempa
Philip Potempa is a 1992 graduate of Valparaiso University. He began covering theater, arts and features stories in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois for The South Bend Tribune in 1992, before joining The Times of Northwest Indiana and Illinois in 1995 where he worked as a features writer and daily entertainment newspaper columnist for more than two decades. In 2016, he joined The Post-Tribune and Chicago Tribune Media Group where his columns and feature stories run in print and online. He is the author of three published books chronicling stories, interviews, recipes and memories from his personal and professional experiences. Released in May 2010, his third book, “Further From the Farm,” (Pediment Press) features favorite celebrated stories from his interviews, including Mary Tyler Moore, Lily Tomlin, Julia Child, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Dolly Parton, Betty White, Karl Malden, Phil Donahue and Bea Arthur. He also is an adjunct instructor in communication at both Valparaiso University and Purdue University Northwest. When not lecturing in a classroom or in a theater seat, Philip divides his time between his family's farm in Northwest Indiana and his home in Chicago. Read some of Philip's work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Chas Reilly
Chas Reilly has covered a variety of issues in Northwest Indiana for more than 15 years. Much of his career has been focused on municipal government, especially issues in Merrillville and Hobart. He also has experience writing about business, crime, schools and sports. Reilly started his career in 2006 with The Times of Northwest Indiana. He became a freelance journalist in 2015. His work has taken him on many adventures over the years, including riding as a passenger in a stunt plane, participating in police training, observing explosive exercises with a local SWAT team and flying with the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights aerial parachute demonstration team. Reilly loves taking photos to go along with his articles. He also is a big sports fan. His favorite teams are the Bears, Blackhawks, Cubs and Bulls. Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Jessica Tobacman
Jessica Tobacman has been a professional writer for nearly 15 years. She covered features for the Chicago Tribune’s “Health & Family” section as a weekly freelancer. She has also written for the Southtown Star, Suburban Life Publications, Classical Singer Magazine, Jewish Chicago, Patch.com, In These Times magazine and the Daily Herald. Jessica is a graduate of Brandeis University with honors and has a master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia College. She is also the cantor at Joliet Jewish Congregation. Jessica lives in Naperville with her husband and son. View some of Jessica's work for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Freelance writers who are interested in writing for Northwest Indiana Business Magazine, should contact Executive Editor Heather Pfundstein at hpundstein@linkermediagroup.com. Please submit a resume and three writing clips of recent work that are not self published or blogs. Learn more here.