Editor Gabriel Dillard (left) accepts an AABP Editorial Excellence Award from Mitch Bettis, owner and president of Arkansas Business Publishing Group.

The Business Journal brought home its largest haul of national journalism awards from the Alliance of Area Business Publications (AABP).

The AABP represents business journals from across the country. The Editorial Excellence Awards were announced during the AABP’s annual conference in Detroit, Michigan, on Monday.

The Business Journal brought home five awards — two gold and three silver — competing in the division for small, tabloid-sized publications.

Former reporter Edward Smith won two gold awards. One was in the category for “Best Beat Reporting, Real Estate” and the other for “Best Scoop.”

“This publication shows the strength of beat reporting with its breaking stories and good ‘gets’ on the big news and unusual angles,” according to the competition judges — faculty from the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri.

The Best Scoop award was for Smith’s story about Pacific Gas & Electric’s backlog on connecting new housing to the power grid.

Smith also won a silver award for “Best Body of Work, Single Writer.”

“This writer’s portfolio demonstrates the impact that development can have on the less Wealthy,” according to the judges. “His well-sourced stories connect policies to real people’s lives and feature a strong focus on environmental and housing equity.”

The Business Journal took a silver award in the category of “Best Beat Reporting, Tech and Innovation” for its stories by reporters Ben Hensley and Frank Lopez on the expansion of the now-defunct Bitwise Industries and for a profile on Mojave Seafood, a locally incubated company exploring aquaculture in the desert.

“Readers could quickly grasp the impact of the Bitwise expansion into the region or the novelty of the shrimp farm in the desert in quick reads that make it clear Fresno is just as much a tech hub as its California sister cities,” according to the judges’ comments.

Lopez won a silver award in the category “Best Personality Profile” for his story about Amber Balakian, the marketing mastermind behind the four-generation family business Balakian Farms in Reedley.

“A fascinating look at a business that’s four generations strong. This is the anti-brain drain story – it focuses on a subject bringing knowledge back to her home community, and the reader learns a bit about heirloom tomatoes along the way, too,” according to the judges’ comments.