Flagstaff Featured Business: The Community Press
(as published in the October 30 edition of The Community Press)
The Flagstaff Region Featured Business is a monthly newspaper and web feature presented in partnership by Flagstaff County and The Community Press.
The Community Press
4919 – 50 St., Killam, Alberta
780-385-6693
ads@thecommunitypress.com | news@thecommunitypress.com
Flagstaff County & Area’s #1 Choice since 1908!
The very first issue of the weekly newspaper arrived in mailboxes on July 16, 1908 as The Sedgewick Sentinel. Since that time, with the exception of scheduled breaks like Christmas, the weekly newspaper has published uninterrupted for over 111 years!
The ‘Press, then Sentinel, was founded by a young pressman who had moved his family to Alberta from Ontario named A.J. Honey.
Honey sold the operation after seven years to the Eastly family, which lived mostly in the Sedgewick area.
A.L. Eastly acquired a number of town and village newspapers in the County during the 1920s and ‘30s, amalgamating them into The Community Press, as it has since been known.
By 1942, the elder Eastly was in ailing health, and his son Arthur assumed the business and the role of Editor and Publisher. A.L. passed away shortly thereafter following a lengthy illness.
Arthur, “Art” for short, ran The Community Press for the next 27 years. He was perhaps best known for his riveting and thought-provoking editorials. Like his father, Art liked to keep the conversation alive, even when the subject matter was controversial in a changing world. Art also provided a calming and brave voice during WWII. Today, The Community Press dedicates its English 30 scholarship to his memory.
In 1969, the ‘Press was sold to businessman Monte Keith. The Keith family also purchased The Alliance Enterprise, printing them separately for a number of years before eventually merging the Enterprise with the ‘Press. Keith brought a number of technological changes to the newspaper, moving the operation from handset type into the modern age of offset in the mid-1970s.
Rick Truss of Sedgewick purchased half of Keith’s shares in 1977, and together they installed a web press, offset camera, and new photo equipment. Truss became sole owner in 1985, and remained a partner in the business until 2005. Truss was a true print wizard, successfully running his Flagstaff Printing business until his retirement.
In 1985, after closing out a partnership with the Keiths in Wainwright, Kerry Anderson came to the ‘Press. He entered into a partnership with Truss in 1989, becoming co-owner. He is still a majority owner to this day, making him the longest-tenured proprietor in the history of the paper.
Anderson and Truss made many updates, including the expensive move into the digital age with modern Apple desktop computers.
Anderson’s popular “From the Stands” column is still talked about fondly by long-time readers. He was active on Chambers, Rec Boards, and in the Killam Lions Club for many years before leaving the area in 2005.
A number of his creative sales initiatives and special sections remain active to this day.
With the acquisition of two other east central Alberta newspapers, and the founding of a fourth in 2005, Kerry moved to Tofield to be more active in the overall running of the newspaper group, which was later to be known as ‘Caribou Publishing.’ Kerry still contributes to the ‘Press to this day with his minor hockey report and his regular opinion pieces.
Kerry’s son Eric joined the business as a student reporter in fall of 2003. Following school, he moved up by learning every position in the company; his skill set being specific to graphic design, page layout, and strategic planning. He was Production Manager from 2006 to 2010, temporary Editor in 2007-2008 and became permanent Publisher in 2010. He is also Publisher of The Weekly Review in Viking, Senior VP of Caribou Publishing, and is transitioning into an ownership capacity.
Eric has been a key contributor in bringing the ‘Press into the modern age, as the publishing process itself has changed significantly in the past 15 years. A hands-on publisher, he estimates he has personally paginated and signed off on over 750 editions of the ‘Press.
Today, The Community Press maintains a consistent number of area subscribers, a large page count (consistently 28-32 pages) and high community engagement, covering all of Flagstaff County plus the municipalities of Bawlf, Amisk, Hughenden, and Czar.
“The support we continue to receive is unbelievable,” says Eric. “We are so grateful for this region and hope to remain a relevant and important voice for many years to come.”
Leslie Cholowsky, Eric’s mother, became Editor in 2010 after a vacancy unexpectedly arose. Being Kerry’s first wife, Leslie often jokes; “we are the poster children for ‘don’t burn your bridges.’”
Leslie joined the ‘Press after working many years at a local insurance business. She also previously edited E-books as a side business, co-owning an E-book publishing company that was well ahead of its time. Of the many hats she’s worn at the ‘Press, being Editor is by far her favourite.
“I get to meet so many interesting people in this job, it’s like going on a field trip every day,” Leslie says.
“There are so many amazing people in Flagstaff doing extraordinary things and it is my privilege to tell their story.”
The Community Press maintains a calendar full of advertising specials and initiatives throughout the year, including the ‘EXTRA!’ which allows customers to advertise in all four ‘Caribou Publishing’ titles for less than the cost of being in two of them.
“It’s important for us to be adaptive and provide the most value for our customers’ budgets,” Eric says.
“We don’t have ulterior motives. Our motives are for our customers to succeed and for our business and our area to succeed.”
In addition to its role as a weekly community newspaper, one of the other services The Community Press provides is commercial printing.
“We provide anything from invoices to business cards to receipt books to posters and flyers, and labels and magnets, and stickers … really anything you can think of,” Eric says.
“We also design and print event programs for a number of organizations, including Killam Wheat Kings, Killam Rodeo, and Bruce Stampede.”
The ‘Press partnered with a new print shop a few years ago that allows them to act as a store front. This allows the business to continue to offer high quality as well as retail prices, keeping the service local. What can’t be done with in-house equipment is completely designed locally, printed off site, and brought back at a fair market price.
Leslie, Jayden Lesmeister (Production Assistant), James Cox (Student Production Assistant) and Eric are commonly the ones who handle and design print jobs.
“We have such an awesome staff, I don’t want to give anyone the impression that only Leslie and I deserve the credit,” Eric points out.
Ally Anderson, Eric’s wife, is the Production and Sales Manager, overseeing many of the day-to-day office operations, coordinating and booking advertising campaigns and sales. She wears many other hats as needed, including event coverage and writing a Killam News column.
Karen Ruzicka has been with the ‘Press since 2006 as the Administrator. She impressively handles and organizes the accounts receivable and books for the four different newspapers, while being first to serve customers.
Jayden Lesmeister and James Cox both started with the ‘Press last fall as Production Assistants. Jayden is full time while James is a student. Both bring great creativity and efficiency to the production and printing ends; James contributes stories and photos as well.
Emily Tanton has been the Student Reporter for over a year now, and Leslie says she often has to remind herself that Emily is still in high school due to her maturity and organization. Emily writes stories and covers sports events when she isn’t up to her shoulders in her many other responsibilities.
Joe Hartung distributes the paper every Wednesday and delivers from Killam to Czar. An awe-inspiring professional photographer, he also regularly contributes his work to the pages of the paper.
“We’re all so proud to tell your story,” Eric says.
The Community Press remains an example of the success that can be had investing in the Flagstaff Region.
“Anyone looking to invest in our region I think would be very surprised at the many supports there are available to new and existing businesses and how easy it is to access them,” Leslie says.
“Just like this partnership between Flagstaff County and The Community Press called the Flagstaff Region Featured Business.”
Flagstaff County and The Community Press have been proud to partner on this free monthly business feature. Would you like to apply to have your business featured in 2020? Applications are open from Nov. 1 to 30. To apply, go to http://bit.ly/2020featuredbiz and complete the application form.
As published in the October 30 edition of The Community Press – on newsstands today. Never miss an issue, become a SUBSCRIBER today!
The Flagstaff Region Featured Business is a monthly newspaper and web feature presented in partnership by Flagstaff County and The Community Press. For more information, contact Jenalee Blackhurst, Economic Development Coordinator, at 780-384-4152.
