Twin Cities Business took home three awards at this year’s Alliance of Area Business Publishers (AABP) summer conference and awards ceremony in Wilmington, North Carolina.

AABP is an association of 57 business magazines and newspapers in North America.

The awards illustrate TCB’s high-standing reputation for reporting key business insights in one of the country’s largest media markets, while also exhibiting compelling artwork in each print issue.

Best Cover – Magazine

Art director Mike Novak and photographer Bill Phelps won silver for “Best Cover – Magazine.” The magazine cover features Life Time founder and CEO Bahram Akradi, with the cover line “Fit For Life.”

The feature story ran in TCB’s February/March 2025 issue.

The AABP judges said, “There’s a wonderful level of visual complexity to this cover that evokes an ethereal feel that mixes time and life. The strongly placed subject is offset by the contrasting typography. This typographic treatment activates the space by its placement in the negative and physical spaces. The subject becomes an interactive subject within the headline. The black and white passes through him, moving the eye back and forth through the page and landing on the word ‘Life.’”

Best Feature Single Story

Twin Cities Business editor Adam Platt received the silver award for “Best Feature Single Story (medium size publications)” on Matt’s Bar in Minneapolis, which ran in TCB’s August/September 2025 issue.

Platt’s feature explores how the Cedar Avenue bar put Minneapolis on the national food map and now faces an era of change.

AABP judges wrote that the story is “a masterfully told narrative that transforms a beloved neighborhood bar into a broader story about endurance, identity, and the business of staying true to a winning formula. With vivid detail and strong character-driven storytelling, the piece traces how a modest establishment grew into an iconic brand without losing its soul. The writing is confident, engaging, and deeply observed, offering both nostalgia and sharp insight into longevity in a changing marketplace. A memorable and finely crafted feature that resonates well beyond its setting.”

Best Explanatory Journalism

Platt won a second award at this year’s AABP conference and awards ceremony, for his deep-dive feature story on how debt savants, public officials, and national experts are trying to sort out what has gone wrong with the metro’s commercial real estate industry.

The AABP awarded the story silver in the “Best Explanatory Journalism (medium size publications)” category. The feature ran in TCB’s June/July 2025 issue.

The judges said the story “offered readers a deep look at commercial real estate in the region and why it was in catastrophic shape. The story is brought to life through case studies of a variety of different properties and the financial reasons for their distress.”

Check out the full list of AABP winners.