WILMINGTON – Delaware Business Times won seven awards in the 2025 Delaware Press Association contest, including placement in three categories.
This year, the honors include first place wins for feature stories authored by Associate Editor Jennifer Antonik in her first year with the publication.
“Local journalism matters more today than ever. We are thrilled to have our team, and their reporting in key areas that affect people across our entire state, recognized by the Delaware Press Association with these awards. We couldn’t be more proud,” said Michael Reath, publisher of Delaware Business Times.
Antonik will see two cover stories move on to the National Federation of Press Women to compete on a national stage.
She won first place for overall feature for “My Sister’s Fault pair reflects on Delaware support,” where two sisters spoke about their journey from hobby bakers while they worked at Perdue Farms to independent business owners.
Antonik also won first place for agriculture features for “Growing oysters and an industry in the Delaware, Rehoboth Bays.” That piece takes a deep dive in the budding aquaculture industry as educators and hopeful oyster farmers talk about the financial challenges in store for what could be a unique industry in southern Delaware.
“We at the Delaware Business Times are so proud of Jennifer’s strong work in 2024 and we are thrilled to see her hard work pay off in her feature stories landing first place at the Delaware Press Awards,” Delaware Business Times Editor Katie Tabeling said.
Both Antonik and DBT Editor Katie Tabeling earned several awards across specialty categories in the DPA 2025 contest. That includes Tabeling’s second place award in the social issues category for her piece titled, “Wilmington Black businesses need support to grow stronger.” That story took a closer look at Black entrepreneurs in Wilmington and their struggles to stay in business, despite the lack of capital available.
Antonik also claimed second place in the business category for “Business Growth in Sussex drives construction industry,” detailing the explosive building growth in southern Delaware and how contractors are gaining more work over the years.
Antonik bested Tabeling in the business category as Tabeling was awarded third place for “Business Developers bring new energy to Wilmington’s old commercial spaces,” highlighting the growing trend of converting unused office space into apartment units.
Tabeling was also awarded third place in the government category for “All eyes on Wilmington as Biden endorses Harris” with a story focused on President Joe Biden’s bombshell decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race and how the Wilmington campaign headquarters responded.
Finally, Antonik won third place in the health category for “By the numbers: A deeper look at health care spending in Delaware,” which was a deep dive into the driving costs for the state’s health care options while lawmakers worked on a bill that intended to cap spending statewide.
