by Jason Schreurs As Powell River Peak celebrates its 20th anniversary with an open house on Wednesday, November 25, it also prepares for the challenging prospect of continuing on without its founding publisher.
As of January 1, Joyce Carlson is retiring from the position she created two decades ago and leaving the Peak, which she and her family founded in 1995.
For some, especially our dedicated staff here at Peak Publishing, the initial retirement announcement was a shock. Now that we have all had a chance to get used it, we are focusing on enjoying our last few weeks and the holiday season with Carlson at the helm.
Filling Carlson’s role at the Peak will be a considerable assignment and require a delicate balance of historical knowledge and new perspective. Fortunately, I am up for the challenge.
Running a successful newspaper is like running any successful business. You need to have customers who believe in your services, and those services need to be carried out by skilled employees who care.
The Peak staff has never lacked in the skill or caring departments, and that has been something instilled in our employees by Carlson for the past 20 years.
Luckily, we have also never had a lack of caring customers who see the benefits of subscribing to and advertising in our publications.
With a new era of the Peak, there will be changes, of course.
Technology has the publishing world in a constant state of catching up. We are confident that print has a crucial role in the information age, but we have advancements to make in the digital realm.
At the same time, design and content need to be updated as new ideas on how to produce a better newspaper and its connected publications swirl around our office on a daily basis.
Our new sole owner, Glacier Media, is an information and communications company that publishes newspapers in nearly 100 communities in Western Canada alone. Local staff members with local interests is integral for the Peak, and Glacier’s management team would be the first to tell you that.
In this exciting new era a lot will remain the same. My journalism background is very similar to Carlson’s, in that I am a publisher/editor who believes in the power of a good story. A publishing business’ two primary goals are providing valuable services to its readership and advertisers, and maintaining financial viability.
Newspapers are integral to every community, especially a tight-knit one such as Powell River that is going through many changes. Much like the community it serves, the Peak is going through changes as well.
How complementary that we are all on this journey together, working hard to make Powell River the best it can be.
Carlson spent every day of the past 20 years forging community, and I am honoured to carry on her tradition.
Jason Schreurs was born and raised in Powell River. He is the Peak’s current editor and incoming publisher.
