After several months of planning, the Members of our non-profit holding company have elected a three-member board of directors that includes the CEO and two new independent outside directors. We have previously had a board made up completely of corporate officers.
The newly elected directors are:
RICHARD BRICKER, a lawyer by training, has been an independent business consultant and real estate investor/syndicator since the early 1990's. His prior experience included managing the Southwest operations of a national investment bank’s real estate mezzanine finance group; presidency of a multi-office real estate development, management and investment company; and the chairmanship of a small publicly-owned Canadian financial institution.
PETE EYERLY, a former Member of INI’s non-profit holding company, is chairman of Press-Enterprise, Inc., a family-owned company that owns daily and business journals in Pennsylvania, has developed a significant web offset commercial printing business and has an advertising agency in Bloomsburg, PA. Pete was one of the founders and is a past president of the national PAGE purchasing cooperative for newspapers. He has served on several other corporate and association boards.
JOE SMYTH is chairman and CEO of Independent Newspapers and the holding company. Growing up in a newspaper family, he has done just about everything to be done at a newspaper. He acquired ownership of the Delaware State News in 1969, changed the corporate name to Independent Newspapers, Inc., and expanded it to today's four-state operation. In 1991, Joe transferred ownership to a non-profit holding company, to ensure its continued independence. He was co-founder and first president of PAGE, the national purchasing cooperative for newspapers, and is the author of Newsroom Guidelines for Independent Newspapers.
“The other corporate officers who previously made up our board of directors will no longer be tugged between their primary roles and the very different responsibilities that fall on directors,” Joe explained. “I’m also looking forward to the fresh perspectives and new disciplines that Richard and Pete will bring to our corporate governance --- especially with Richard’s strong financial background and Pete’s knowledge of commercial printing and community newspapers.”
The new directors will focus on the company’s strategic vision, financial goal-setting and performance, governance, management depth, compensation and performance.
INI is a normal for-profit company that is 100% owned by a non-profit holding company. No dividends are paid, so 100% of the company’s after-tax profits can be reinvested in the company’s journalistic mission.
The Members of the non-profit holding company --- currently Jim Binns, Bill Bishop, Mary Lou Fulton, Jerry Oliver and Tom Shaw (with one new Member being elected each year) --- pledge not to benefit financially from their involvement. The Members do not manage the company. They elect the board of directors and appoint the CEO; the directors in turn elect the other corporate officers.
