Rochester Business Journal

What Rochester Business Journal does

Rochester Business Journal is a regional business-to-business media publication headquartered at 24 Main St, East Rochester, NY, serving the Rochester, New York metropolitan area since 1987. It operates as a subsidiary of BridgeTower Media, a private B2B media conglomerate that controls more than 40 print and digital publications across 25+ U.S. markets with a combined reach of 4.4 million executives and 1.2 billion annual audience touchpoints. The company's core product is a weekly print and digital business news publication distributed through paid subscriptions, with editorial coverage across Banking & Finance, Healthcare, Legal, Manufacturing, Technology & Telecom, Real Estate, Retail, and other verticals.

The underlying technology stack is a standard web publishing platform with a Tecnavia-powered digital edition system, an email newsletter delivery infrastructure, and event management software supporting 15+ annual events. Supporting products include the Leads & Data Center (a subscription database of 54 industry lists, 1,877 businesses, 7,041 executives, and 1,368 emails used for B2B lead generation), the RBJ Daily Newsletter, Public Notices (an officially designated legal notice channel for Monroe County), Classified Advertising (priced at $1 per agate line), Movers & Shakers paid announcements ($300 standard, $850 featured), and BTM Business Connect sponsored content.

Revenue is generated across four primary streams: print and digital subscriptions, advertising (display, classified, and legal notices), events and sponsorships (Reader Rankings, Power Lists, Forty Under 40, AI Summit, and others with tiered Flagship/Major/Core/Supporting sponsor packages), and data subscriptions. The customer base spans business executives and decision-makers (the primary segment, with 85% of the audience in decision-making roles), legal professionals (mandated legal notice filers), HR and talent acquisition teams, and B2B advertisers. The publication reaches 72,000+ business owners and decision-makers in the Rochester market and operates with 11-50 employees.

Name

Rochester Business Journal

Legal name

Rochester Business Journal

Website

https://rbj.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rochester Business Journal is a regional B2B media publication serving the Rochester, NY business community since 1987, delivering weekly print/digital business news, events, and a Leads & Data Center subscription database. Operated as part of BridgeTower Media's portfolio of 40+ U.S. business publications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business News Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120), Directory and Mailing List Publishers (51314)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Business, Financial & Trade News Publishers (MPAJADAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB), Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

Keywords

• Business news publishing
• B2B media services
• Regional journalism
• Business events management
• Lead generation data

Headquarters

HQ city

Rochester

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Subscriptions: Weekly print publication with digital access, subscription-based revenue model. The publication has served Rochester since 1987.
2. Advertising: Display advertising, classified advertising, and legal notices. Classified ads are $1 per agate line per week, with $20 charge for each affidavit requested.
3. Events and Sponsorships: Multiple annual award events including Reader Rankings, Impact and Inclusion Awards, AI Summit, Women's Leadership Summit, and others. Events offer sponsorship packages at various levels.
4. Leads & Data Center: Subscription-based access to Book of Lists database containing 54 lists, 1,877 businesses, 7,041 executives, and 1,368 emails. Provides data cleaning, appending services, and custom list creation.
5. Movers & Shakers Announcements: Paid announcements for new hires, promotions, and leadership changes. Standard listing at $300, Featured listing at $850.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rochester Business Journal publishes a weekly print newspaper and continuously updated digital edition delivering local business news, executive moves, and industry coverage for the Rochester, NY market. The publication is supported by advertising services, a leads and business data product (Book of Lists), public notice and classified placement, and a portfolio of annual awards programs and business events.

Product overview

Rochester Business Journal is a business-to-business media publication providing a portfolio of news, data, and advertising products. The core offering is the Rochester Business Journal publication covering local business news since 1987. Supporting products include the Leads & Data Center (subscription-based lead generation and Book of Lists database), Digital Edition for online content access, Public Notices for legal advertisements, RBJ Daily Newsletter for daily news delivery, Classified Advertising for business services, Movers & Shakers for personnel announcements, and BTM Business Connect for sponsored content. The publication hosts annual events including the Reader Rankings Awards and publishes industry-specific coverage across sectors including Banking & Finance, Healthcare, Legal, Manufacturing, Technology & Telecom, Real Estate, Retail, Education, Government & Politics, and Nonprofits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rochester Business Journal (weekly print newspaper)
• Rochester Business Journal Digital Edition (rbjournal.com)
• RBJ Daily (daily email newsletter) A daily email newsletter delivering Rochester business news headlines and brief updates to opted-in professional readers.
• Leads & Data Center (Book of Lists) A structured data product providing ranked lists of Rochester-area businesses by industry and searchable company data, used by sales and marketing teams for prospecting and market research.
• Public Notices Placement service for legally required public notices (foreclosures, court filings, LLC formations, estate notices, name changes) published in the RBJ print and digital editions, providing documented proof of publication for legal compliance.
• Classified Advertising Print and online classified advertising for job postings, business-for-sale listings, RFPs, and other professional announcements targeted at the Rochester business community.
• Movers & Shakers A recurring editorial section that tracks executive promotions, new hires, and leadership changes at Rochester-area companies.
• Reader Rankings An annual awards program in which RBJ readers vote to rank the top local businesses across industry categories, culminating in a published list and live event.
• 40 Under 40 An annual awards program recognizing 40 Rochester-area professionals under the age of 40 for career achievement and community impact, published in a special edition and celebrated at a ticketed event.
• BTM Business Connect A content and marketing services offering providing advertisers with custom content, sponsored editorial sections, and lead-generation programs run across RBJ's channels.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered major, supporting, flagship and core.

• CE TechnomajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026CE Techno serves as a Major Sponsor for the Reader Rankings event, one of RBJ's flagship annual award ceremonies recognizing the best businesses in Rochester.
• Brighton SecuritiessupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Brighton Securities is a Supporting Sponsor for the Reader Rankings awards celebration, providing financial services industry support for the event.
• CooperVisionsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026CooperVision is a Supporting Sponsor for the Reader Rankings awards, supporting the Rochester business community recognition event.
• ESL Federal Credit UnionflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026ESL Federal Credit Union serves as the Presenting Sponsor for the 2026 Impact and Inclusion Awards, the premier event recognizing diversity and inclusion champions in Rochester.
• First American Equipment FinancecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026First American Equipment Finance serves as the Experience Sponsor for the Impact and Inclusion Awards & Summit, supporting the recognition of workplace culture leaders.
• BridgeTower MediaflagshipOthersBridgeTower Media is the parent company of Rochester Business Journal. It is one of the country's leading B2B media companies with more than 40 print and digital publications in more than 25 U.S. markets, reaching 4.4M+ executives.
• TecnaviacoreTechnology or IntegrationTecnavia provides digital edition technology for Rochester Business Journal, enabling online access to current and archival publications through a digital reading platform.
• Genesee Valley ClubcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGenesee Valley Club serves as the venue partner for Reader Rankings 2026 awards celebration event, hosting the event at their Rochester location.
• Greater Rochester Chamber of CommercecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRBJ collaborates with Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce on joint initiatives including Top 100 list recognition and business community events.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• NJBIZ: New Jersey-based regional business journal and direct BridgeTower Media sister publication, offering near-identical print, digital, events, and data products to a state-level business audience. Operates under the same parent as RBJ with shared sponsorship, technology, and editorial infrastructure.
• Long Island Business News: Long Island regional business newspaper and BridgeTower Media sister brand, covering the same executive audience with print, digital, events, and Power Lists. Highly comparable business model, customer base, and product mix as RBJ.
• New Orleans CityBusiness: Regional business journal serving the New Orleans metro under BridgeTower Media, with parallel weekly print, daily newsletter, events, and Book of Lists-style data products. Same parent, same go-to-market, same revenue model as RBJ.
• The Daily Record (Maryland): Maryland-based BridgeTower Media sister publication focused on legal and business news. Shares technology, classifieds infrastructure, and advertising platform with RBJ, serving a comparable professional executive audience.
• ColoradoBiz: Colorado regional business publication under BridgeTower Media, offering weekly print, digital, events, and data products to a metro-level business audience. Directly comparable scope, audience, and product portfolio to RBJ.
• Idaho Business Review: Idaho regional business journal under BridgeTower Media, providing print, digital, and event coverage of state-level business news. Operates with the same parent infrastructure and comparable subscription/advertising mix as RBJ.
• Central Pennsylvania Business Journal: Central Pennsylvania regional business journal published by BridgeTower Media, covering Harrisburg and surrounding markets with similar print, digital, events, and awards products to RBJ.
• Lehigh Valley Business: Lehigh Valley, PA regional business publication under BridgeTower Media, targeting local executives with print, digital, and event products structurally identical to RBJ.
• Buffalo Business First: Upstate New York regional business journal published by American City Business Journals, the largest U.S. network of metro business publications. Direct competitor in the same New York State geography as RBJ with comparable weekly print, digital, events, and Book of Lists products.

Broad incumbents

• Crain's New York Business: Long-established New York-focused regional business publication serving a larger metro executive audience with weekly print, digital subscriptions, and events. Comparable product set and audience type to RBJ, though operating at significantly larger scale and as an independent (Detroit-based Crain Communications) rather than a BridgeTower portfolio brand.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RBJdaily
• Facebookfacebook.com/RBJdaily
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rochester-business-journal
• Instagraminstagram.com/rbjdaily

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rochester Business Journal