(FORTUNE Small Business) – The author of this issue's lead story, on Americans looking for better jobs amid a warming economy, has some recent firsthand experience with the subject. He is Kemp Powers, whom we're pleased to have hired away from Forbes to become a writer for FSB based in Los Angeles. That hotbed of entrepreneurship has been home to Kemp for the past year, as he has written about everything from technology to the entertainment business, including the videogame industry. Kemp was so quick to adjust to California that he almost forgot the joys of winter in his native New York City. Working out of FSB's home office in January, he became known for the gray sweatpants that peeked out beneath the cuffs of his dress slacks.

Kemp, 30, studied English at Howard University and later was awarded a prestigious Knight-Wallace fellowship at the University of Michigan. His early jobs in journalism reflected his interests in film, music (especially hip-hop), and politics. But he gravitated toward business, based first in Chicago, from which he traveled widely, writing mostly about small business. "I especially liked the family businesses," he said. "They were usually stories no one else had done, and you didn't have to go through PR people. You'd deal directly with the owners, who were usually very open and friendly, and you could weave a human narrative."

As FSB's man in Los Angeles, Kemp will cover all aspects of the entrepreneurial experience: successful startups, instructive screwups, philanthropists, scammers--you name it. He will travel throughout the West and beyond. Already, in the issue you're holding, Kemp has brought us a valuable new contributor, Brandon Copple, 33, who grew up in a Kansas farm family, worked in a slaughterhouse, and has written often about agribusiness. With Kemp editing, the two collaborated on our story "Glad Cow," on page 66, about a family-owned Colorado firm that has won consumer trust for its all-natural beef and is seeing brisk demand amid the mad cow scare.

If you have a fresh story idea for Kemp, especially about entrepreneurs in the West, or would like to comment on his stories in this issue, please e-mail him at kemp_powers@fortunemail.com.

DAN GOODGAME