Julie Wernau writes for the Chicago Tribune’s business section, covering energy, green technology and manufacturing trends. Before coming to the Tribune in 2009, Wernau worked at The Day Publishing Company, a daily newspaper covering Southeastern Connecticut, where she was a multi-award-winning police/fire reporter. Her stories about a local predatory lending scheme led to investigations by the FBI and the state’s attorney general and the convictions of several co-conspirators. As a business journalist, she tends toward stories that explore the impact business and economic trends have on the lives of real people: employees, business owners and consumers.