Denton Publication Member Profile

Ed Coats - New Market Press, Inc. Daniel Alexander - Denton Publications The long and narrow Lake Champlain separates upstate New York from Vermont. The Adirondack mountains rise to the west above Albany, N.Y. and below Montreal, Quebec. Farming, tourism, logging and some manufacturing power the economies of small towns and bucolic countryside. The Vermont hills east of the lake rise into the Green Mountains above and below Rutland. It is in this setting with its sunny summers, showcase autumns and long winters deep with snow that Dan Alexander and Ed Coats have carved out an 85-by-120-mile territory for their free paper publications. Dan Alexander owns Denton Publications under which seven New York weeklies and a Kidsville magazine are published. Alexander and Coats are partners in New Market Press, Inc., which publishes The Eagle and the Rutland Tribune in Vermont. A third title, the Vermont Times was combined with The Addison Eagle in March. New York publication banners include the North Countryman, Clinton County Today, Tri Lakes Today, Valley News, News Enterprise, Times of Ti and the Adirondack Journal. New York flagship papers are The Valley News which operates out of Denton headquarters in Elizabethtown and the Times of Ti centered around Ticonderoga. The Vermont flagship is The Eagle which comes out of Middlebury, a town that claims title to famous New England poet Robert Frost. All of the weekly papers of the sister companies carry Saturday publication dates. All are free. Most are mailed. All are tabs. Page counts range from 20 to 36. Circulations per flag average about 10,000. At the Elizabethtown, N.Y. plant, a 17-unit Goss runs two shifts and prints all of the company papers plus over 30 other publications. Final production, graphics, proofing, mailing and accounting for the papers are handled out of Elizabethtown offices. All of the weekly papers publish community news in a 35 percent news hole. A managing editor oversees six editor/writers, a newspaper designer, a news clerk and approximately 25 freelance writers. The papers cover town meetings, sporting events, breaking news and things like school plays and local festivals. Editorial and sales functions operate out of offices in Elizabethtown, Plattsburgh and Ticonderoga, N.Y. and Middlebury and Shelburne in Vermont. The company has about 70 employees, including about 20 full and part-time sales team members. Alexander is publisher of the New York papers. "My role encompasses everything from sweeping the floors to delivering papers and all things in between," said Alexander. "In small operations you have to be 'jack of all trades,' but that's what makes this business fun. You are not locked into any one function, but enjoy the benefits of being involved in all aspects of the business: selling, writing, production, training, management, expansion, purchasing, marketing and community involvement." Coats is the publisher of the Vermont papers. He has offices in Shelburne and Middlebury, but he works in the New York paper offices as well. "You may find me in any one of our papers on a daily basis wherever a fire breaks out," said Coats. "My functions include driving sales work on major accounts. But like Dan, I can go from driving truck one minute to making a sales presentation the next." Alexander began working in retail management out of college, then moved into management with chambers of commerce and industrial redevelopment authorities. An opportunity to get into the shopper business was followed by running a group of dailies, weeklies and shoppers. That group was sold and Alexander said it was becoming clear to him that he wanted an ownership role in the business. Partnering with George and Scoop Sample, Alexander acquired Denton Publications 21 years ago (8-8-88). Over a 12-year period, Alexander had also purchased partial ownership in half a dozen papers from Maine to Florida. He was able to trade those holdings with the Samples for full ownership of Denton. For Coats, the business was introduced to him in his hometown of Canandaigua, N.Y. A friend of his published the paper there and invited Coats to come to work in sales. Alexander interviewed Coats in 1986 and hired him to be the general manager at the Wellsville Daily Reporter, a paper in the group Alexander managed. In 1990, Alexander called again and hired Coats to be the general manager of Denton Publications. In 1995, the two men became partners with the acquisition of The Vermont Times. They have since also purchased the Addison Eagle and the Rutland Tribune, all in Vermont. Both men are active in professional associations. Coats is current president of Free Community Papers of New England (FCPNE). He has been president of the managers division of FCPNE and a board member for North Country Chamber of Commerce. Alexander currently serves on the boards of the Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP) and Free Community Papers of New York (FCPNY). He has been on the boards of Paper Chain and the New York Press Association. Last year he was chair of a two-county United Way campaign and has served on numerous local community boards. Alexander has been New York Publisher of the Year and has also been named a Business Person of the Year by the North Country Chamber of Commerce. All of the papers have been heavily involved in sponsoring events and functions in their communities. The Vermont papers have partnered with the parks and recreation department in the state to promote awareness and activities. Alexander's son, Dan Jr., started as a photographer for the company at age 12 and worked his way through all the departments of the company before happily settling into graphics. His wife, Gayle, handles accounts payable, general ledger and Circulation Verification Council audits with the company. She also oversees Kidsville magazine and is active with Dan in various association meetings. Christine Coats, Ed's wife, works in the graphics department designing ads. Their daughter and son are 11 and 10, not quite yet company employees. Away from work, Coats coaches baseball and football and enjoys activities with his kids. He is a hunter and an occasional golfer. He collects coins and appreciates opportunities to travel. Alexander said he mows grass on the weekends and plows snow during the winter and those things don't allow much time to work on his golf skills. "My wife keeps telling me there is life after work," said Alexander, a self-admitted workaholic. "It's usually dark when I get to work and dark when I get home. She has successfully gotten me to take several weeks off and go to Florida each fall. My life-long dream is to some day beat Steve Harrison (Genesee Valley Pennysaver) in golf. That will likely never happen, but hey, a guy can dream, can't he?" Both publishers are bullish on the future of the free paper industry even during these economically challenging times. As for the economy, Coats said that the company is asking more out of its people, focusing on what it does best and letting some marginal things go. Alexander adds to that they are working harder, smarter and longer and attending conferences and reading materials to learn new ideas and what is working for other publishers. "I am convinced we are just coming into our time," said Alexander. "I've been watching the daily papers continually cut their service to the communities they serve as more and more become corporately owned entities. Nobody is as well positioned as your hometown free paper to serve its local community." Writer Dwight Bitikofer is a director of IFPA and publisher of Webster-Kirkwood Times and South County Times in St. Louis.