Journalism

Employee Retention Credit (ERC) Tax Program Resumes Processing Claims (The Woodard Report)

An IRS program designed to give businesses struggling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has resumed processing applications following a temporary moratorium caused by a flood of fraudulent petitions to the tax bureau.

Written for Woodard’s news platform “The Woodard Report,” this piece covered a key operational update from the IRS that helped the site’s readership—which largely consists of CPAs, bookkeepers, and professionals in related industries—keep their finger on the pulse.

Education that provides a boost; Chicago’s BSD Industries helps youths from underserved communities develop skills in automation (Electrical Apparatus Magazine)

Like so many cities in the U.S., Chicago is a place where many struggle to make ends meet. In some communities, this situation is made infinitely more complicated by a lack of access to jobs or job training and other factors. Rising to the challenge of addressing these problems is BSD Industries, a company in Chicago’s South Side that offers free, hands-on training for students looking for extra education. 

I wrote this cover story for Electrical Apparatus Magazine, a print magazine for professionals in the industrial manufacturing sector. Collaborating with editors and subject matter experts, I pitched the story to my managing editor, conducted interviews, took photos, wrote, and edited the story.

FIA Asia-V: Adapting to the New Normal (John Lothian News)

“Never let a good crisis go to waste.” This quote by Winston Churchill (or former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, depending on who you ask) was brought up by Stella Gan, the FIA’s head of operations for the Asia-Pacific region on the first day of FIA Asia-V, as speakers from all over the derivatives industry discussed via Zoom how the industry has adapted to the “new normal” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I continued to cover news stories from the financial markets remotely. I wrote this piece covering the eponymous session at the Future Industry Association (FIA)’s 2020 conference for the APEC region, which took place remotely that year. The goal of this story was to record the process of the institutional finance industry’s adaptation to the pandemic, the rise of remote work, and other world events that changed the industry in 2020.