Letter from the Editor
While you and yours – and we and ours – prepare for the imminent arrival of the late-December holiday season, it’s a time of transition
here in the Southwest Florida offices of Business World magazine.
It is with great pleasure that I introduce myself as the new managing editor of our monthly publication; while my predecessor and esteemed
colleague, Bill Schiller, shifts to an advisory role with this magazine while taking on editorial-related duties with some other projects being
planned internally.
As for me, this is the latest stop in what’s been a 25-year career in journalism since I wrote my first published article as an intern for my
hometown Niagara Gazette in Niagara Falls, N.Y. I graduated from the State University of New York’s College at Brockport in 1992 and
began my full-time career as a general assignment reporter/editor with the Bee Group Newspapers weekly chain in 1994.
Subsequent newspaper stops took me to the Daily News in Batavia, N.Y. and The Intelligencer in Doylestown, Pa. before I switched to
magazines as the managing editor of R&D Directions – a monthly that covered the research and development arm of the pharmaceutical
industry – in late 2004. I remained there, in Newtown, Pa., through 2007, when my wife and I moved to Gainesville, Fla. and I took an
editorial position with Naylor Publications, where I wrote for and edited magazines and other “image pieces” for trade associations across
the United States and Canada.
I reached the southwest portion of the state in 2012 as senior editor of Gulfshore Business magazine, which covered companies and business-
related activities in Charlotte, Collier and Lee counties, and moved closer to my home by accepting the position here at Business World in
late November. I live in nearby Cape Coral with my wife of nearly eight years, Danielle, and our 5-year-old son, Ryan.
My goals for the magazine are simple. I want to tell the stories of the great businesses and other organizations out there that are doing great
things, innovative things and important things that will boost the quality of life in their specific regions of the world, and, in some cases, in
places far from their respective epicenters as well. I will look forward to speaking to the representatives of those companies on a daily basis
and I encourage any and all feedback when it comes to the monthly content.
No suggestion, large or small, is insignificant to me. Modern technologies or no, this is a living, breathing product, and it’s my intention to
increase its value to our readers by providing pertinent and valuable information in a readable form that consistently delivers on our mis-
sion to offer industry specific information and intelligence on key businesses, from tiny regional operations to huge multinationals.
I humbly ask that you join me in working toward that objective and I very much look forward to making your acquaintance – either in
person or via means that have become the new reality.
Regards,
Lyle Fitzsimmons
Managing Editor, North America
Business World magazine
