Online News Agency LocalBusiness.com Shuts Down

Fort Lauderdale-based online business news company LocalBusiness.com has
ceased operations and sent about 75 employees packing.


The company, formerly d-business, operated nearly 25 Web sites that covered
local business news in Atlanta, Denver, New York, and Seattle.


Officials could not be reached for comment.


On Saturday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that an estimated “60 to
75 employees nationwide were affected by the decision, with most based at
the main office in Fort Lauderdale.”

The news organization said it learned of the company’s closure from
employees who told the paper they “cleaned out their desks and left the
office on Friday.”


“LocalBusiness.com … told employees Friday that its principal activity, a
Web site called LocalBusiness.com will be shut down,” the Sun-Sentinel
reported. Employees told the paper the company was unable to find a buyer.


LocalBusiness.com, which competed with Advance Publications and Crain
Communications, among others for business readers, updated its sites with
breaking news and features focusing on start-ups and emerging companies.


The company also offered a community feel with message boards and other
investor tools.

But, as with many media companies, the offline flight of advertisers hurt
the ad-supported company that was founded by chairman Edwin Warfield in
1997.


In February, the company tried to right itself when it appointed Jane
Seagrave as CEO. Seagrave was tagged for her experience as president of
Legal Communications, Ltd., a Philadelphia-based publishing company, that
was acquired by American Lawyer Media in 1998. She was also brought in to
fill a recently vacated position.


The company said the former CEO, Thomas Maffettone, resigned to pursue other
opportunities.


Prior to the change in CEOs, the company laid off about one-quarter of its
125 employees nationwide and shuttered several offices in December. To stay
buoyant, it also announced its intension to sell its TrueAdvantage B2B
division, which offered online services to small companies.


The fate of another property, a business magazine called digitalsouth,
remains unclear.


LocalBusiness.com’s institutional investors include U.S. Equity Partners,
L.P., Rustic Canyon Ventures and Tribune Ventures, the strategic investment
unit of Tribune Company.

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