Schurz COMMUNICATOR April 2015 Country copes with severe weather ~ Stories pages 6, 7 and 8 What’s on the inside Penny Reid, The first quarter of 2015 has been a time of significant change for Schurz senior copy editor at Communications, Inc. The April Communicator focuses on these changes. the Bloomington, IN Herald-Times, made It has been a time of acquisition. Long Lines Communications, a west central Iowa cable appearances on the company, was acquired. The company serves an area around television show Sioux City and is headquartered at Sergeant Bluffs. Long Lines “Jeopardy” in March. She was a run-away is a family company, like SCI, and has been in the Long family champion the first for 70 years with second generation management. Story on day of the show. page 4. She lost out the sec- It has been a time of divestiture. In a relative rarity, Schurz ond day but still REID went home with Communication sold a property. The Imperial Valley Press in El $24,400. Story on page 10. Centro, CA and the Associated Desert Shoppers in Palm Desert, South Bend Tribune reporter CA were sold to Imperial Valley News Media. Schurz acquired Virginia Black took the newspaper in 1965 and the shoppers in 1987 and 1989. The to the streets a chilly story is on page 5. SCI President Todd Schurz writes about the day in February to discover what it’s rationale for the sale and acquisition in his column on page 3. like to be a panhan- It has been a time of expansion. Sunflower Broadcasting in dler and report her Wichita, KS has started construction on a 2,500 square foot findings. Humiliating, was her conclusion. addition to its broadcast complex. The building addition will be She also interviewed a community room that will provide space for community events plus provide an on-site area other panhandlers. where the entire staff can meet at one time. BLACK Story on page 22. It as been a time of innovation. Schurz Communicator Cara Baumeister Communications has become the first non- on the Web from Antietam Cable Gannett property to insert the USA Today sup- Television has been Each issue of the Schurz Communicator promoted to vice plement into the weekday newspaper. is being made available electronically president of busi- Bloomington and Aberdeen have already start- on the SCI website. Back issues can ness operations for ed the section and other properties will follow also be found on the site. Schurz A limited number of printed copies are Communications in the next few months. Stories are on page 16. being produced. Between 10 and 30 cable operators. She It has been a time of management change. copies of each issue are being sent by will be partnering The Kleppinger brother team in Kentucky is UPS to the individual properties. with other cable companies to pro- splitting up. Jonathan is leaving his position as vide support, collab- BAUMEISTER editor of the Jessamine Journal to go to divinity school. He will be replaced by brother Ben, oration and oversight of financial oper- who has been editor of the Schurz-owned Interior Journal since 2012. Story on page 26. ations.. Story on page 26. It has been a time of accomplishment. Schurz Communication properties made an impres- Cindy Ward, after 30 years at sive showing in the Kentucky Press Association contest. The Jessamine Journal won the best WSBT in large weekly award for the third straight year and fourth time in the last five years, winning Mishawaka, IN, has retired. She has 25 awards including 12 firsts. The Interior Journal won 15 awards and finished a close second been one of in the best small weekly competition. The Danville Advocate-Messenger won seven awards, Michiana’s finest including three firsts and the Winchester Sun also won seven awards. Stories are on page 28. TV personalities. She came to WSBT In another accomplishment the Gaylord, MI Herald Times was named Newspaper of the in 1986 from Year for the second time this year. The latest award came from the Local Media Association. Louisville, KY. The Herald Times had previously won the top award for a large weekly in the Michigan Press During her tenure Association contest. Story on page 29. WARD at WSBT she has anchored various --Bill Schrader, Editor newscasts. Story on page 27. Dan Rivers, Digital Development manager for Sunflower Broadcasting in Wichita, KA, has won the Kim Setty Spirit of On the cover Excellence award. The cover story for the April Communicator focuses on the severe winter weather that Dan oversees all of the production and swept across the country in February and March. It was a second straight year. The support of the storms ranged from record snowfall in Danville, Kentucky to record cold temperatures Sunflower digital in Hagerstown, Maryland. Included at the opposite extreme was Anchorage, Alaska properties. He devel- where the snow was at record LOW levels and the temperatures were at record HIGH oped a social media levels. The stories on the winters at various SCI properties are on pages 6, 7 and 8. app for storyteller Every conveyance possible was put into use to move the mountains of snow. In the now used by all SCI picture on the cover a youngster from South Bend found a wheelbarrow a handy device broadcast properties. for snow removal. Story on page 29. RIVERS 2 Spring 2015 Schurz Communicator Acquisition, sale of properties explained By TODD F. SCHURZ available in the tristate area. Long Lines is President/CEO also nearing completion of a new state-of- Schurz Communications Inc. Companies the-art cable TV network center in Salix, IA. Charles A. Long, whose father founded There were two major events – a sale of a change Long Lines in 1941, said that the sale was long-time property and an acquisition -- in “Remember that the enduring com- bittersweet. “The Long family has tremen- the company in the first quarter, and I want- panies we see are not really compa- dously enjoyed serving our Siouxland ed to review nies that have lasted for 100 years. friends for many years, but to offer the best those and explain They’ve changed 25 times or 5 times cable TV and broadband services today the rationale or 4 times over that 100 years, and requires the investment and resources of a they aren’t the same companies as behind them. large media enterprise. It’s in the best inter- We sold they were. If they hadn’t changed, they wouldn’t have survived. The est of our customers that Long Lines join a Associated company with the resources of Schurz Desert leadership that really counts is the leadership that keeps a company Communications, and we are extremely Newspapers and changing in an incremental, continu- pleased that Long Lines will remain family- Associated ous fashion. It’s constantly focusing run – just with another family at the wheel.” Desert Shoppers on the outside, on what’s going on in I will tell you that Chuck’s words mean a to Imperial Valley the marketplace, what’s changing great deal to us, and we will do our best to Newspapers Inc. there, noticing what competitors are be good stewards of the company and a at the start of doing.” Lou Gerstner good corporate citizen to those communities. March. We have I like the boxed quote above from Lou owned the very challenging marketplace. Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM and for- TODD SCHURZ Imperial Valley On March 9, we completed the purchase mer chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco, Press since 1965 of Long Lines. Long Lines provides tele- very much. and the White Sheet and Green Sheet since phone, cable TV and internet broadband ser- Our organization has adapted and grown the late 1980’s. vices to more than 20,000 business and resi- over the decades and will continue to do so. As you all know, while we have made dential customers in the metro Sioux City, Gerstner talks about focusing on the market- numerous acquisitions since 2000, we have Iowa area and in Orange City, Mapleton, place, and you have heard me talk and write not sold many companies in the past. What and other communities in Woodbury, at length about listening to our customers. you may not be as aware of is that the com- Monona, Ida, and Harrison counties. We are making the same point – organiza- pany’s senior managers, board and owners Long Lines more than doubled the size tions adapt to better serve customers. review our collection, or portfolio, of proper- of its fiber network during 2014, now Let me add a final comment. ties on a regular basis. extending as far east as Algona, Iowa and as The only way to provide great products We are proud of the contribution legacy far south as Omaha, Nebraska. With broad- and services is due to the efforts of commit- properties have made to their respective band speeds up to 10 Gigabits per second, it ted and engaged employees. Thank you communities, and we are also aware that the offers among the fastest internet connections again for all you do every day. needs of these communities change over time. We have come to the humbling real- ization that we may not be the best owners for a property going forward. Over the years, there have been prelimi- SCI Core Values nary discussions between our organization We constantly strive to improve to meet empower our operations and people to and the past and current corporate owners of the needs and wants of readers, listeners, nimbly and successfully serve our custom- the Yuma Daily Sun as to whether it made viewers, users, and advertisers.