O’BANNON ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AFTER 42 YEARS

East Central Minnesota

representative in Minnetonka with no training and no plan. She successfully learned sales skills and relationship-building on the job and continued in that sales role until 1995. She then took her sales skills to the StarTribune where Mark Weber was the marketing manager for the real estate segment. Weber convinced her into making the jump from community newspapers to the daily newspaper world.

MARK LEWIS, APG SOUTHERN WISCONSIN REGIONAL PRESIDENT

Mark is

Wisconsin.

Long-time newspaper veteran Cheri O’Bannon has announced she will be retiring this spring after 42 years in the industry. Cheri and her husband Lyle have decided now is the right time so they can spend more time together and do the some of the things they have been delaying because of her hectic schedule. Travel is No. 1 on their list.

O’Bannon has been in the newspaper/ publication business her entire career and has often said, “She has ink in her blood.” She started in June of 1981 after her father Keith Engen started the successful Sailor Newspapers in Excelsior. According to O’Bannon, she started as a sales

O’Bannon was highly successful working in the real estate segment, first selling and then managing that division until 2008. She then left the StarTribune and worked for Thomsen Reuters as the manager of corporate sales. Thomsen Reuters, which had purchased Super Layers, hired her to be responsible for the selling and execution of all their print publications throughout the United States. In 2011, she was recruited back to the real estate segment at the StarTribune, and worked there until Weber, who had since been hired by ECM Publishers, invited her to return to her community newspaper roots in 2014.

Her positions at APG of East Central Minnesota have evolved from being a sales manager in retail, running/selling Specialty Publications, custom printing, direct mail, magazines, and the classified division. She is involved in supporting a lot of initiatives behind the scenes from custom printing/mailing for reps, special projects, event work and her regular responsibilities. Although she will officially be retiring this spring, and has already started the transition process, she will likely always have a touch of the industry running through her veins. As she said, ink is in her blood.

Wisconsin includes The (Janesville) Gazette, Beloit Daily News, Daily Jefferson County Union, Watertown Daily Times, Antigo Daily Journal, Marinette Eagle Herald and Hometown News Group weekly publications in Dane, Jefferson, Rock, Dodge and Columbia counties.

Lewis began his career in the newspaper industry working in circulation for the Journal Star in Lincoln, Nebraska and for the Omaha World Herald. He went on to hold publisher and other executive roles at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin; Sioux City Journal; Garden Island and Kauai Publishing Company on the island of Kauai, Hawaii; Racine Journal Times; Wisconn Valley Media Group in southeast Wisconsin that produces the Racine Journal Times, Kenosha News and Lake Geneva Regional News; and Tulsa World Media Group. He has 30 years of experience in the industry with over 16 years as president and publisher.

Lewis attended the University of Nebraska. He is a former member of the United States Marine Corps and a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He has held community leadership roles with Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce; the Racine County Economic Development Corporation; Wheaton Hospital Foundation; Racine Good Fellows; Lihue, Hawaii Chamber of Commerce; and the Siouxland United Way in Sioux City, Iowa.

Readers Bid Farewell To Reporter Rick Olivo

Ashland Daily Press readers bid farewell to reporter Rick Olivo after his 31 years covering events in the Chequamegon Bay area. Rick wrote a farewell column to readers (read here) and was recognized by the Bayfield County Board for his dedication in keeping the community informed. Several letters to the editor since have come in congratulating Rick and lamenting the loss of his writing voice. Rick intends to continue providing stories for special sections once he has taken a bit of a break. He also hopes to spend a lot more time with the home-brewing operation he has constructed in his garage.