After six generations of ownership, the Rhoades family is selling Enterprise Media Group to Alabama-based Carpenter Media Group. The fast-growing, privately held company owns almost 300 newspapers in the United States and Canada.
The sale is expected to be finalized on Friday.
In a conference call with EMG employees earlier in the week, Tim Prince, president and CEO of Carpenter Media Group, said he wanted the papers formerly owned by EMG to continue to focus on hyper-local community journalism.
“You guys do that very well,” Prince said, in reference to the Washington County Enterprise, Washington County Pilot-Tribune, Arlington Citizen, West Point News, Wisner News-Chronicle, Oakland Independent and Lyons Mirror-Sun in Nebraska, and the Missouri Valley Times News, The Dunlap Reporter and The Mapleton Press in Iowa.
“If we’re telling the stories that are meaningful to the community, we have a bright future,” Prince said.
Mark Rhoades, who had scaled back on the time he spent in the office in recent years, said there were a number of factors that made now the right time to sell Enterprise Media Group. One of the primary considerations, he said, was not wanting to go back to a full-time role.
“It wasn’t like, ‘Gosh, we have to sell,’” Rhoades said. “We just kind of put it out there to see what was going on. We think the right group came along, and feel comfortable with them that they can go forward.”
Rhoades said Washington County will always be home, and he’s going to stay involved in the industry through his membership on some boards for the Nebraska Press Association and Iowa Newspaper Association.
“Of course, when the weather is better I’ll golf,” he said. “I want to travel. And I want to do some volunteering, I just haven’t figured out what organization or which direction I want to go. I want to stay busy. I have to.”
Rhoades’ great-grandfather’s father-in-law’s dad, who was a state senator, helped his son, L.F. Hilton, get the family’s start in the newspaper business back in 1869.
They’ve owned at least one newspaper in Washington County ever since then. Mark Rhoades has devoted his professional life to the cause.
“I really believe newspapers are kind of the heart of a community,” Rhoades said. “You’re not really a community unless you have a newspaper. I mean, that may be changing. But you look at some of the towns that don’t have newspapers, and they’re just a place where people go live.”
As Rhoades reflects on the legacy he hopes to be leaving and the stories he’s been able to tell in Nebraska and Iowa, he closed by saying this: “I’m just especially proud of the people we’ve had. Really, when you look at these walls out there, they’re covered with awards. Everybody took a lot of pride in what they’re doing. They really cared. They put in a lot of hours. That’s just the type of people we’ve had over the years.”
Publisher Chris Rhoades, Mark’s son, said not coming into the Enterprise Media Group offices several times a week will feel unusual for him.
“While the upcoming months will certainly be very odd for me, I know our company is in great hands,” Chris said. “I sincerely thank all of our readers, advertisers and employees for your support during our time as publishers.”
