By Diane Kortus
It always feels good to be recognized by your peers and we’ve gotten a mega-dose of this feel-good medicine in the past few weeks.
At the beginning of May we received Best of Show and 11 other awards for advertising design in the Awards of Excellence contest sponsored by Community Papers of Florida.
Then last week the Florida Press Association notified us that our journalists won nine awards in its annual editorial competition for weekly newspapers, including the prestigious categories of best sports section and city/county coverage. We’ll learn in July how we placed.
What is it about our company that makes us consistent winners in these statewide competitions?
Three things:
* Employees who work together with a shared vision to produce the best newspaper they can every week with pertinent, compelling stories and ads that motivate readers to shop locally
* Employees who listen to the needs of customers
* Employees who are empowered to make decisions and a boss who does her best to stay out of their way
Notice the common denominator? It’s employees.
Ask any small business owner why he is successful and he’ll tell you it’s because of committed, engaged and motivated employees.
That certainly is true here at Community News Publications. We would not be an award-winning newspaper without our staff of artists, journalists, sales people and support staff who take pride in the community newspapers they produce every week.
It is especially rewarding to be recognized for the quality of our work while we battle the financial challenges of the depressed economy. Like most small businesses, we have adjusted to decreased sales and have learned to do more with fewer people.
These people —my 14 employees— have never worked harder or better as a team. And the proof of this is the recent awards from our peers in the newspaper industry who have judged us to be the best in the state.
The Laker and the Lutz News deliver well-written stories to clue you in to important news in our community and to share interesting stories about the people who live, work and play here.
The advertising and design staff provide informative local ads to help our local businesses showcase the goods and services they provide to meet our readers’ needs.
The services we provide and the recognition they’ve received are worth celebrating and are valuable, in any economy. Please join me in congratulating my staff for their outstanding work.
