NNA request for management proposals

Jun 12, 2015

June 12, 2015

Colleagues:

The National Newspaper Association this summer is embarking upon a new chapter in its 130-year-history. By the end of the year, the NNA board of directors will select a new management team to assist us with our work in representing community newspapers.

A request for proposals from interested contractors is attached to this note. In it, you will find a description of NNA programs and requirements for the successful new management team.

I know there will be many questions about NNA’s new direction. The NNA officers and management are standing by to answer them.

Here is the one we expect to hear first—what happened with NNA’s engagement of American PressWorks Inc.? The answer is that nothing has happened. APW has fulfilled the 5-year commitment it made to NNA when it added general management to its existing public policy functions in 2010 and is helping us to transition to our next phase of management. APW is gradually removing itself from management of our association and others to concentrate on public policy. APW will work smoothly with the new management team to make sure NNA members continue to enjoy the services and representation they expect. We hope the transition will be complete by the end of 2015.

The NNA board expects APW to continue as its public policy and postal contractor for the foreseeable future. Our signature NNA Leadership Summit and News Fellows programs will occur March 16-17, 2016, as planned.

The next question is: what will happen to the APW staff in Columbia, MO, where a portion of NNA headquarters has been? The answer is that we deeply value the contributions of the individuals who joined our team after our engagement with the University of Missouri ended in 2010. Our board wants to be open to a wide array of proposals for how we will get our work done on behalf of our members and we expect to be in conversation with bidders on the work done by all our management team and their futures in the new NNA.

Above all, the NNA Board has been actively engaged in looking at a future where we continue to represent the best of community newspapers, with an emphasis on our printed products and openness to digital tools. NNA has survived many changes in its century-and-a-quarter of wildly varying economic, technological and demographic changes. We now seek a partner in helping us to shape what comes next.

Questions may be directed to me, jedgecombe@thenebraskasignal.com, our vice president Chip Hutcheson, chiphutcheson@timesleader.net, or NNA CEO Tonda Rush, tonda@nna.org.

Click here for the RFP.

Sincerely,