Independent Acquires Four West Valley Newspapers

Four West Valley newspapers --- the Daily News-Sun, Glendale Today, Peoria Today, Surprise Today --- have been purchased by Independent Newsmedia Inc. (INI), which also publishes weeklies in a number of other communities around the Valley.  Included in the purchase from 1013 Communications is the YourWestValley.com website. 

“We are so excited to welcome these products and the talented people who produce them to our family,” said Independent's President & CEO Ed Dulin, adding that the company hopes to offer jobs to virtually all of the staff members of the newspapers being acquired.  “We see this as an opportunity to do an even better job of fulfilling our mission of community service, as well as turning more readers and advertisers into raving fans.”

The acquisition takes effect July 1. It will give INI, publisher of eight community weekly newspapers throughout the Valley of the Sun – including four in the West Valley – the single largest circulation in the West Valley market in Arizona. The company also owns and operates community news websites, the monthly Sun Life Magazine and a commercial printing plant.

Charlene Bisson, already publisher of INI’s other West Valley newspapers, will also serve as publisher of the four newspapers being acquired.  Kristy Kollman, who has been 1013’s publisher in the West Valley, will become publisher of the Independents in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and the East Valley.  Bret McKeand, who has been INI’s publisher in the north and east Valley, will become Arizona group Senior Vice President/News Quality for the expanding company, which will now reach more than 209,000 households across the Valley.

“This acquisition will enhance our brand, build our reputation and put us in a position to serve the West Valley like no other news organization We are committed to journalism and we are passionate about that mission,” said the Independent’s West Valley Publisher Charlene Bisson.”

INI pays taxes like any other for-profit company, but is 100% owned by a non-profit journalistic trust that allows all after-tax profits to be reinvested in the company’s community service mission.  The company also publishes community newspapers and websites in Delaware, Florida and Maryland.

The Daily News-Sun has a long history in the West Valley, first emerging as two mimeographed pages in Youngtown in 1956 and eventually becoming the only local daily newspaper to serve the West Valley suburbs of metropolitan Phoenix. A complete timeline can be found at www.yourwestvalley.com/services/about_us/

1013 Communications will continue to own a direct marketing magazine, Clipper Marketplace, and six publications in Tucson — the Explorer, Tucson Weekly, Inside Tucson Business, Marana News, Foothills News and Desert Times.

“This is a great strategic move for the West Valley,” said Randy Miller, directing manager for 1013 Communications. “Uniting these newspapers with the Independent’s publications will greatly improve the reach and strength of the group as a whole.”

401(k) Match Increases July 1st

Based on a recommendation by the 401(k) committee and unanimous approval by the board of directors, Independent will match 50% of each employee’s contribution to his or her 401(k) account for the plan year that begins on July 1, 2016, up to an annual limit of $350.   This means employees who contribute $700 or more for the plan year will receive the full company match.  

The last increase to the 401(k) Plan was July 1, 2013. Independent’s board of directors feel our people deserve this additional recognition of their efforts. Our employees continue to work harder and smarter to help the company through an uncertain economy.   

Your contributions can be a percentage of your gross pay or a flat dollar amount per pay period.  For calendar year 2016, each employee can defer up to $18,000 annually tax deferred; and,  if you are age 50 and older before the close of a plan year, you are eligible to contribute up to $24,000 to your 401(k) account, all tax deferred.

Every employee age 21 or over, who has been with the company one year with at least 1,000 hours of service, is eligible to join Independent’s 401(k) Plan.     

NFP-Lincoln Benefits Group, Independent's third party administrator and Plan’s co-fiduciary will once again offer  employee education meetings.  The pension firm is committed to helping employees achieve financial freedom in retirement. They understand that the road to a more secure retirement is not the same for everyone and will provide individualized services to help guide the individual to an investment and retirement planning strategy that may be right for you. Times and dates will be shared later this summer.  For questions on investments, employees can contact NFP-Lincoln Benefits via email at deborah.britt@nfp.com or kadedra.warren@nfb.com  or call 800-826-7859 and refer to INI’s plan number 61386.

Contact inipayroll@newszap.com  if you’d like to join the 401(k) plan.  An enrollment kit will be emailed to you for review and completion.  If you would like to increase your current contribution, changes can be made through your Ceridian Self Service by selecting Benefits>401(k) Elections

"We hope the increase in the company match as well as offering education meetings will increase participation in the plan. The 401(k) plan is one of the most powerful tools employees can use to invest now for their  retirement and long-term security,”  said the 401(k) committee members (CEO Ed Dulin, Corporate Treasurer Toni Ayers,  and Corporate Secretary & Plan Trustee Wanda Ford-Waring). 

Happy 20th

Darel La Prade, senior vice president for News Media and publisher of the Delmarva weeklies, entered the Delaware State News conference room June 8 for a surprise reception in honor of his 20^th anniversary with the company.

Shown in the first photo is Delaware State News Publisher Tom Byrd welcoming Darel.

And, in the second photo, Delaware State News managing editor Andrew West offers a congratulatory handshake. 

           INDEPENDENT’S MEDICAL PLAN TO SEE
           INCREASE  FOR UPCOMING PLAN YEAR


As you may be aware healthcare costs on a National level are continuing to rise with unprecedented levels of claim dollars.  The claim dollars are now going toward prescription drug expenses for employees and their dependents with the advent of new specialty drugs and many brand name drugs blocking the introduction of generic equivalents.

The increases have become slightly less volatile over the last couple of years, but Independent’s health plan is still outpacing general inflation. Many companies continue to be faced with double-digit increases every year!  We were fortunate that Independent’s plan saw no increase in premiums during the previous renewal.  

Independent’s insurance committee has been working very closely along with our health and welfare consultants at Wells Fargo to negotiate and reduce the increase that Highmark is requiring for the upcoming renewal.   Unfortunately, the same trends being seen nationally on prescription drug claims appears to be impacting Independent’s increase as well.

We hope to have more information to share in the upcoming weeks on how this may impact you so you have time to make a more informed decision when the Annual Enrollment meetings take place in July.

 

June Birthdays

6/1, James Conrad, Delaware State News

6/2, L. Lee Hoover, Delaware State News

6/3, Charlene Patti, West Valley

6/3, Armando Ramirez, Valley Printing

6/3, Karen Riggin, Crisfield Times

6/6, Susan Canfora, Salisbury Independent

6/7, Sheila Clendaniel, Corporate

6/12, Cameron Carranza, Valley Printing

6/12, Melissa Fittro, North Valley

6/12, Timothy Gary, Delaware State News

6/14, Bonnie Mankin, Delaware State News

6/14, Miana Moreno, Valley Printing

6/15, Richard Crumbacker, Crisfield Times

6/16, Nichole Datcuk, Delaware Printing

6/16, Jose Lopez-Beltran, Valley Printing

6/19, Marc Tropio, Valley Printing

6/30, Amy Mullen, Delaware State News

June Anniversaries

6/2, 5 YRS, David Cannon, Dorchester Banner

6/3, 20 YRS, Timothy Gary, Delaware State News

6/3, 1 YR, John Sawatzky, Caloosa Belle

6/3, 1 YR, Patricia Trimnal, Okeechobee News

6/4, 9 YRS, Debra Friedl, Arizona Group

6/4, 1 YR, Justin Maskulinski, North Valley

6/6, 2 YRS, Krystal Norris, Delaware Printing

6/12, 15 YRS, Wendy Miller, East Valley

6/13, 3 YRS, Vernon Bailey, Delaware Printing

6/16, 2 YRS, Phillip Frerichs, Delaware State News

6/16, 20 YRS, Jasper Purnell, Delaware Printing

6/17, 33 YRS, Bret, McKeand, Arizona Group

6/20, 2 YRS, Donald George, Delaware Printing

6/23, 34 YRS, Barbara Bryan, Delaware State News

6/23, 2 YRS, Paul Clipper, Dorchester Banner

6/24, 6 YRS, L. Lee Hoover, Delaware State News

6/24, 14 YRS, Glenn Rolfe, Sussex Weeklies

6/26, 46 YRS, Edward Dulin, CEO

6/27, 5 YRS, David Taylor, East Valley

6/28, 1 YR, AbuGour ElToum, Valley Printing

6/29, 1 YR, Garrison Wake, Valley Printing

Spring Is Here!

Staff members from the Milford Chronicle took advantage of the spring weather to enjoy the most recent issue of newspaper. The group occupied the sidewalk outside the office in Milford during the Third Thursday celebration. Every month on the Third Thursday downtown businesses extend hours to accommodate shoppers and visitors. The Chronicle has been helping to lead this effort. Picture are (from the left) News Editor Jennifer Antonik, New Media Web Developer Mike Smith, Publisher Darel La Prade, and Ad Manager Nan Mulligan. Not pictured is Angi Hicks, who acted as the sneaky photographer.

Publisher honored for community service

Charlene Patti Bisson, publisher of the Arizona West Valley publications, was honored twice last week for her community service, and presented with two prestigious awards by two civic service organizations. The Salvation Army of the West Valley presented Charlene with its highest honor -- the 2016 Community Award -- during the organization's annual awards ceremony on May 10. The award recognized Charlene's involvement in numerous West Valley charitable causes and nonprofit organizations. Later in the week, Charlene received a special award at the Rotary District 5490 annual district conference. The award, presented by the district governor, recognized Charlene's contributions over the past year to the district.

Former Okee News Reporter Wins Pulitzer Prize

Leonora Bohen Anton, a former reporter for the Okeechobee News, was one of three Tampa Bay Time reporters to win a Pulitzer prize for their series on abuse of the mentally ill: "Insane. Invisible. In danger."

Leonora grew up in Connecticut and Greece and studied journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She got her start in the newspaper business working as a reporter for the Okeechobee News, from 1989 through 1992.  After leaving Okeechobee, Leonora worked for the Island Packet on Hilton Head Island, S.C., the Tallahassee Democrat in Tallahassee and the Savannah Morning News in Savannah, Ga. She joined the Times in 2000, the same year she won the American Society of News Editors award for deadline reporting. She lives in St. Petersburg with her husband and daughter.

What's Next For Salisbury Independent?

What’s next for Salisbury Independent?

By Darel La Prade

This week the Salisbury Independent marks another milestone. The front-page folio identifies this issue as “Vol. 3, No. 1.” In other words, the Independent embarks on its third year today.

That we’ve arrived at this point is, in the views of some, a genuine miracle. Certainly, in general terms, everyone knows the newspaper business is in trouble. In fact, a would-be client recently observed that the only reason he hadn’t advertised with us is because he didn’t believe the paper would last this long. Yet, in seeming defiance of the odds, here we are.

Why has this happened?

Undeniably, one reason for the paper’s success are our extremely dedicated, often weary staff members, all of whom go beyond the call of duty every single week. Cathy Koyanagi, Susan Canfora and Greg Bassett are like the Three Musketeers. Not too long ago, to help us grow even more, we added to this merry band a “fourth” Musketeer, Greg Ardis.

A full-compliment of knowledgeable people who are all completely committed to publishing a world-class community newspaper is undoubtedly indispensable, but by my rough count, there are at a minimum another 35,000 reasons for the success of the Independent. That is to say, each reader who does us the honor of opening the paper every week has a profound effect on our success.

Put another way, our ultimate success depends entirely on you, our readers. During the last two years, we have worked hard to establish a true rapport with you and to connect to our community. You have welcomed us with open arms. This has been a remarkably humbling experience for all of us.

So today, thanks to you, we begin our third year. The brevity of “Vol. 3, No. 1” communicates, in the rather archaic language of printing, a solemn, mysterious significance – not unlike the feeling you get when the odometer in an old, reliable car rolls over to reach 100,000 miles.

In and of itself, the exact distance is far less noteworthy than recalling the experiences and adventures you had along the way. But even while recollecting where you’ve been, everyone knows you can’t watch exclusively in the rearview mirror. If you are going to reach your next destination it is much more important to keep both eyes on the road ahead.

What, then, lies ahead for the Independent?

First and foremost, nurturing our relationship with you, our readers, and helping to build a better community remains our focus.

To do this, we recommit to doubling down on the journalistic and ethical values we hold most dear. You will find these values summarized in our pledge to our readers. If we can live up to these values, week-in-and-week-out, we can gain and maintain your trust – the most essential factor in any relationship.

Another commitment we’ve made is to produce a series of special reports to provide readers with perspective and insight on key public issues. For example, we will publish a special report next month on the “rise of Salisbury.” This report will take a serious look at the renaissance and the new tide of optimism and energy that is pushing the city forward and that has helped turn the local economy into one of the fastest growing in the country.

Changes caused by growth will inevitably bring a degree of conflict into the public debate, and we promise not to shy away from reporting on these challenges. But we also promise to maintain our position as “a watchdog with manners.” In the end, we are most interested in catching people doing something right. As a rule, we will continue to promote cooperation over controversy, and we will make our opinion pages available for open debate.

We know this is consequential. Just this week, we heard a wise member of our local delegation to the state legislature point out just how important it is for different factions in the community to come together and to have those “difficult conversations,” so that the community can move forward.

We want the Independent to play a role in promoting these “difficult conversations.”

Finally, we promise not to rest our laurels. We will keep seeking to create relevant content, and new ever-more effective marketing initiatives for our advertisers.

To set the tone for this next year, we have a new slogan for the Independent, which we believe captures the essence of our mission: “Reflecting your love for Salisbury!”

We hope you like it, and we trust you will continue to let us know how we are doing and what we can do to improve.

Darel La Prade is the publisher of the Salisbury Independent and five other weeklies on Delmarva. Contact him atdlaprade@newszap.com.