N&O adds business reporters to cover retail, real estate

Without a doubt, the economy of the triangle is booming.

Thousands of new jobs, especially in the technology and biotechnology sectors. Startup companies that turn into billions of dollars. Dozens of new people are moving to the area every day from other parts of the country and from around the world, creating both a boom in the construction professions and a shortage of affordable housing.

To help you keep up, The News & Observer and Herald-Sun are expanding their coverage of business news. Reporters who will cover retail events and real estate news have joined our technology and transportation experts. Soon we will also increase the coverage of science, but this is a story for another day.

Mary Helen Moore is our new app that covers residential and commercial real estate around the triangle. Moore is a native of East North Carolina and a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. She is returning home to North Carolina after several years covering county counties, environmental issues and the latest news for the USA TODAY network in Florida.

New England native Lars Dolder recently joined The News & Observer as a business reporter with a focus on retail after working for the government at Chatham News and Record, where he also ran a weekly column for business. Dolder holds a degree in mathematics from Northern Kingdom State University.

Moore and Dolder join Zachary Ines, who sheds light on the Triangle technology scene thanks to a financial community journalism partnership between The News & Observer and Innovate Raleigh; and Richard Stradling, a transport specialist who has worked as a reporter and editor at The N&O for more than two decades.

Moore and Dolder are the last of more than half a dozen reporters hired for new positions in the growing N&O editorial board.