Board of Directors

Prior to joining GateHouse Media, Mr. Pelland served as the Senior Vice President – Operations at the Providence Journal Company, Mr. Pelland was responsible for Printing, Print and Distribution Sales, Distribution, Single Copy, Home Delivery, Inserting, Mechanical Support, and the Building Facilities departments. Mr. Pelland joined the Providence Journal in 1989 as a staff Industrial Engineer. He has completed engineering and process studies in all major operating departments including Advertising, Circulation, Distribution, News and Operations. In 1990 he was promoted to the position of Manager of Industrial Engineering. Mr. Pelland directed the analysis, research and implementation of the Journal’s Circulation/Distribution/Printing network and much of that analysis has continued to support the Journal’s Distribution and Print businesses. In 1995, he was promoted to Assistant Director of Operations with the responsibility to consolidate the evening and morning newspapers. He became Director of Operations in 1998, Vice President in 2003 and Senior Vice President in 2009. Under his direction as SVP the Providence Journal has expanded its printing and distribution to include over 11 daily and many weekly newspapers and has received a number of awards for distribution including the top-performing home delivery partner for USAToday. Mr. Pelland graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1981 (B.S. Industrial Engineering) and completed his MBA at the University of Rhode Island in 1993. Prior to joining the Providence Journal Company, he completed eight years of naval service as a nuclear-trained submarine officer and worked as a consultant in the defense industry. He also serves on the board of Trustees for Saint Elizabeth Community, a leading skilled nursing home and advocates for the elderly in Rhode Island. He resides with his wife, Doreen, in Saunderstown, Rhode Island.
 
Contact: WPelland@gannett.com
Tel: 401-265-9671

Richard Rinehart is McClatchy’s Director of Production overseeing 28 newspapers printing, inserting and trucking. Richard joined McClatchy in 2005 as VP of Operations at the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida and a MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Tel: 239-560-4561

Nari Walsh is the Strategic Sourcing Director for Gannett. She has been with Gannett since 2008 and currently manages the daily logistics of the largest paper buying program. Throughout her 14 year career with Gannett, she’s created efficiencies with the inventory management process and led paper sustainability reporting. Nari is a graduate of the University of Virginia and now resides in San Diego with her husband and three kids.
Tel: 703-854-6705

Tom Reilly has 42 years of experience in newspaper operations for many of the leading news publishers in the country. He has a vast knowledge of Press/Newsprint/Plate/Preprint Operations and Logistics. Tom’s knowledge and experience in the field allows him to work directly with the Operations Staff to manage their waste efficiently, reduce costs, increase revenue, and add any necessary equipment to improve the process.
Tel: 239-560-4561

Mario Malek is the CIO for Andrew Distribution. Andrew Distribution is a nationwide provider of hauling and transportation services for the newspaper industry. Mario is responsible for all technology, computer systems, dashcams, and electronic logging devices (ELD) needed for
compliant operations. He also manages many twenty-four-hour Andrew Distribution sites,
including transportation of newspapers, magazines, and other goods. He is also responsible for the fulfillment operation of national magazines, cell phone accessories, novelty, and electronic items to over 600 outlets.  Mario has been with Andrew Distribution for 29 years.

Company: manroland GOSS web systems
Address: 22 Industrial Drive, Exeter, NH 03833
Email address: jason.elliott@manrolandgoss.com
Tel: 630-886-7389

Jason Elliott brings over 30 years of printing and operations management experience into his current role of Vice President of Sales at manroland GOSS web systems Americas. He began his career in the graphic arts, serving first as an apprentice printer while earning his Advanced Trade Certificate at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.

In 1997, as Project Manager at one of Australia’s leading printing houses, he improved the operational efficiency of the 24/7 manufacturing facility. Elliott was promoted to Production Management, overseeing the daily operations of the largest printing facility in the Southern Hemisphere.

Later, as a consultant to various printing houses, Elliott applied his printing skills, project experience, and systems techniques to help Australian printers reduce manufacturing costs and streamline operations as the industry struggled with commoditization of print.

He relocated to the United States in 2002 when he was selected for a position with the world’s premier printing press manufacturer, manroland. As a Print Trainer, Elliott gained extensive insight to the unique needs of printers in North America. Since then, he has supported many print operations to develop their employees and consult to their operational success.

In 2006, Elliott accepted the role of Director, Service Support Operations. He was responsible for creating offerings that focused on maximizing the print and operational performance of printers in the United States and Canada. Elliott was also responsible for the daily operations of manroland’s parts and printcom consumables businesses.

This role was later expanded to Executive Director, Print Technology/Press Performance where Elliott took on further responsibility of manrolands sheetfed operations. Additional to his role, Elliott led manrolands after-market sales team. Elliott’s experience was crucial to ensuring manroland was well positioned to provide value-oriented offerings that met the needs of North American printers.

In a transition from his historic operational roles, Elliott moved into a direct sales function, including key account management of one of the world’s largest printers. Elliott’s hands-on approach found him deeply engaged in the printers business. From the press to the corner office, he understands the unique needs of each printer and develops service and support offerings that ensure production reliability and sustainable press performance.

Elliott later accepted the role of Vice President of Sales and became responsible for representing manroland’s lithographic press and digital finishing offerings. His extensive experience of printing operations and the product portfolio served him well in consultatively supporting prospects find the right equipment to best suit their specific needs.

With the merger of manroland web systems and Goss International in 2018, Elliott was called on to lead sales for the Americas region. His team is responsible for supporting the print, packaging, converting, and select industrial sectors with aftermarket solutions as well as new and used equipment solutions. Coming full circle, he leverages his years of experience to support manroland Goss’s focus to being the leading solutions-supplier to the printing industry.

Jim Jones joined Advance Local Media, LLC in 2017 and is currently the Vice President of Production. He has responsibility for operations, facilities, and commercial printing. Prior to joining Advance Local Media, LLC, Jim was a Director at Hearst and held various executive roles with Gannett including General Manager and Vice President of Operations in Springfield, VA. Jim has over 40 years of experience in the newspaper and commercial printing industry.

Brian Karnick serves as Sr. Vice President of Manufacturing for Tribune Publishing. He oversees manufacturing operations as well as commercial production and outsourcing relationships for seven business units across the country. Brian has spent most of his 33-year newspaper career at the Chicago Tribune’s Freedom Center Campus. Since joining the Tribune Company, Brian has held many key management positions throughout the organization, and has spear-headed a Lean manufacturing culture, driving efficiencies throughout the organization. Karnick holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership. He is also certified in Lean Manufacturing through the Association of Manufacturing Engineers and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.
 
Karnick has led key transformational strategies throughout his career, most notably in driving the transition from the traditional newspaper manufacturer to a highly regarded commercial services provider.

Tom Loesch started his career after High School in Ketchikan, Alaska as a jogger, inserter and delivery boy in early 1970’s. He worked as Press operator and Pressroom foreman in Alaska, Washington and Colorado before becoming an independent service technician. He managed a Press Service company for five years before starting imPRESSions Worldwide in 1995. imPRESSions has now executed more than 2,000 jobs in 52 different countries.

Ted McGrew has 30 + years selling Prepress and Press equipment and supplies to the newspaper industry in various senior management positions. He has proven experience in both the Direct OEM & Dealer channels. He launched his graphics career within the family business, HPS Printing Products, then Enovation Graphics, the distribution arm of Fuji. Ted then moved to the direct side of the business with positions with Kodak then Southern Lithoplate. In the spring of 2021, Ted moved back to Kodak as VP Sales, Newspaper Segment, as a result of the Kodak agreement with Southern Litho. Ted, his lovely wife Julie and son Charlie reside in Carmel, IN.

Marlon Medious has been with Chicago Tribune for 17 years, leading and managing various departments within the production facility. Currently he oversees the entire manufacturing operation at the Freedom Center printing facility in Chicago, Il. That printing facility is 940,000 sq. ft. with 10 presses and 7 insert machines. They employee 350+ employees and 75 contractors to run the operation. They currently produce 11 daily and 37 weekly publications (i.e. NYT, WSJ, IBD, Chicago Sun-Times, Korea Times, La Raza, etc.). Marlon has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electronic Engineering and a Master of Arts Degree in Urban Ministry. He and his wife reside in Lynwood, Illinois with their daughter not too far away at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Champaign.

As Regional manufacturing Director Mark has responsibility for Production and Prepress operations in Ontario Canada including the Islington centralized commercial production and packaging facility in Toronto. Mark has 37 years of involvement in the industry. Starting with print and paper in Africa before expanding into Newspapers in Canada where he has covered IT and production, leading technological changes in workflows and manufacturing.
 
Contact: markhall@postmedia.com

Janet is vice president operations for the Las Vegas Review-journal, where she has worked since the spring of 2016. That follows three years at the Register Guard in Longview, Texas, where she was vice president operations. One of the pioneering women in the newspaper production industry, Janet has worked in newspaper management at the Wall Street Journal, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, USA Today, Eugene Register Guard and The Fresno Bee since graduating from Cal Poly too many years ago. She has leveraged a strong passion for print to expand commercial printing operations at her previous and current newspapers. Janet loves life in Las Vegas, enjoys spending time with friends, family and especially with her Golden Doodle, C.C.

Currently, Jesse Samaniego is a National Sales Manager for Central Ink Corporation. He is responsible for specific National corporate accounts as well as new account development and business opportunities. Prior to Central Ink, Jesse was President and Co-Owner of Impression Inks from 1999 until 2017. In July of 2017, Impression Inks merged with Central Ink. Impression Inks was a national supplier of web offset inks for the newspaper, commercial coldweb, commercial heatset and publication markets. Prior to this, Jesse began his career in the graphic arts industry with The Ink Company from 1982 until 1999. He held the positions of production manager, plant manager and Regional Manufacturing Manager. Jesse is also on the Mid-America board and graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Management.

Todd Socia joined the New York Times in 2005, and is currently Senior Vice President – Print Products & Services. He has responsibility for The Times College Pt Production facility in NY, 27 National Print sites, Nationwide Distribution & Transportation, Magazine Production, Newsprint purchasing, and all Prepress Departments. Prior to joining the New York Times, Todd held the position of Vice President, Newspaper Division for both Lastra America and Western Lithotech. He is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in Newspaper Operations Management.

Andre Thomas has worked for Hearst since 2017 when hired as Pressroom Supervisor at San Antonio Express News. In 2018, he moved on to Bay Area Production Services in Fremont, CA as the Packaging Manager, then promoted to Director of Operations. He currently serves as VP of Operations at Bay Area Production Services overseeing the production operation. Prior to joining Hearst, Andre worked for the Tampa Bay Times, Transcontinental Northern California, and Orlando Sentinel. He and his family reside in Fremont, California.

Doug Wilson is Vice President of Production for Adams Publishing Group. He was promoted to the role in November 2017 and is responsible for assisting the organization’s production facilities in improving operational performance and aiding in growing commercial printing, both locally and nationally. He works collaboratively with the local Production Director and Group Publishers on capital products to ensure APG stays current with technology in the equipment arena to produce the highest quality products our customers expect.
 
A newspaper veteran of over 39 years, Wilson emphasizes that high quality and superior customers service are keys to success. Before joining APG via acquisition in 2016, he served as Director of Printing Operations for ECM Publishers. printing, heat set magazines and retail flyers, along with a wide range of finishing applications.

Mike Blinder is the Publisher of Editor & Publisher Magazine (E&P) and CEO (Chief Evangelist Officer) of its parent company, The Curated Experiences Group. E&P has served as the authoritative voice of the news publishing industry for over 140-years. He is also the author of “Survival Selling," a popular (media-based) B2B (business-to-business) sales guide.

Mike has been in love with media his entire life. In high school, he worked part-time as an intern at WPEN radio in Philadelphia and at Radio Shack, where he sold the 1st generation of home computers.

While attending George Washington University, he held a full-time job as a DC Deejay, becoming a station manager within five years. From radio, Mike moved to TV and eventually print, starting one of the 1st digital newspapers in the United States where the Newspaper Association of America nominated him as a "Digital Pioneer." Before taking over E&P Magazine, Mike spent 20 years as founding manager of one of the world's most respected media consulting firms, The Blinder Group. In addition, Mike personally trained over 10,000 media sales teams to adapt to digital revenue concepts and solutions. Mike was best known for his SMB (small/ medium-sized business) marketing training sessions throughout those years. He brought his life-long learning and love of media together in entertaining and engaging classes to cities and towns worldwide. Over 100,000 business leaders have attended his sessions on using all forms of media more effectively to guarantee maximum results.

Mike has won numerous media awards, is past president and board member for several media/marketing associations and has been a sought after speaker at conferences worldwide. He lives in Tampa Bay, Florida, with his wife and business partner, Robin and daughter, Haven.

Meghan Milkowski currently serves as the SVP & General Manager of the Dow Jones Print Group. She oversees the pre-press, manufacturing, distribution, commercial, and business operations for The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Investor’s Business Daily, and other Dow Jones print products.

Prior to joining Dow Jones, Meghan held the position of President at The Hill, an online news source for policy and political coverage. She also served as Vice President of Production & Circulation at Prometheus Global Media. Hired to manage production, she quickly added circulation and project management for IT initiatives.

Her 30+ years of publishing experience, started at Life Magazine, marking up pasteboards for prepress. Moving to Time, she progressed from production and operations to leadership roles in imaging and business management.

Steve Wagenlander is the Senior Vice President of Publishing Operations for Gannett. Prior to coming back to Gannett in 2015, Steve was President and Publisher of Summerville Communications in South Carolina. Steve started his newspaper career at The Lexington Herald-Leader as a District Manager in 1987. During his 36 years career in the newspaper industry, Steve has served in a variety of leadership roles in both Indiana and South Carolina, including Advertising Director and Director of Audience Development. Steve currently resides in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Jeff Lawson joined Hearst Newspapers in 2020 and is currently Senior Vice President, Operations and Distribution. Jeff has responsibility for all production, distribution, transportation, real estate and newsprint purchasing functions for the newspaper group and is based in San Francisco, California. Prior to joining Hearst, Jeff spent 18 years with Gannett Co Inc. and Freedom Communications in operations leadership roles across the country focused on lean manufacturing, distribution, logistics, supply chain management and consumer strategies. Jeff is a graduate of the University of Phoenix where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.

Brent Murray is the Strategic Corporate Accounts Manager for ECO3 (formerly Agfa) in North America. Responsible for building and developing business relationships within the Newspaper and Packaging markets, with a focus to bring digital plates, workflows and software advancements that assist customers with adapting in this industry. With more than 25 years’ experience serving the Newspaper industry, in several sales, service and management positions. Brent’s career started with American Litho in sales and product development for the Newspaper Market, then moving to Konica Minolta as Director of Strategic Accounts and then moved to Southern Lithoplate as Regional Sales Manager. Finally moving to Agfa in 2017 which later became ECO3 Brent continues to work and partner with Newspapers throughout North America, while helping ECO3 develop and grow in their commitment to providing cutting edge products, service and support to all print markets. Brent has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Ferris State University and currently resides in Caledonia, MI where he lives with his wife Stephanie and has 3 children.