New publisher introduces himself to Valley

I thought it might be time to introduce myself. First let me say how honored I am to be your new publisher. This might be the only true writing you ever see from me since I am more on the business end of our product than the writing side.

I wish I could tell you that I have been here for ages and that I know all your kids, etc. However, the reality is that I have followed my career to a few other locations before this one.

Going way back, I am the son of an Oregon logger and a mother that raised three kids that she had way too early. My parents taught me the value of hard work, and the importance of family in your life and to be true to yourself. My best friends from high school I still call my best. I grew up chasing deer and elk through the Cascade Mountains. I starred on the high school football, basketball and track teams of a small school in Gilchrist. Ore. Like most busy Americans, I find myself further out of shape than I ever dreamed possible. I have one living sister Nancy in Portland, Ore. My parents still live in the Bend area raising my late sister Mary's only child.

Today, I am a family man with two great boys, Brandon, 13, Cade 10, and my lovely wife Wendy. We moved to the Minden area last October and have absolutely fallen in love with our new community and surroundings. We like to say that we came home to the mountains from Iowa. Yes, my last four years prior were spent in Sioux City, Iowa, as the retail advertising manager. (Side note Iowa corn is not meant for human consumption and should only be feed to the livestock ... trust me).

We have become members of Carson Valley Christian church and find ourselves volunteering in as many youth activities as possible. I love to coach youth sports; some of you probably saw me coach both my boys' basketball teams last winter with the parks and rec department. My wife and I love to travel, although I don't do it much and the boys love when I take them camping. Some of my favorite places to travel include the Oregon Coast, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands are totally awesome, and any set of mountain ranges that I can get too. I love mountain lakes and the forest. In recent years we have been on a family kick of theme parks and I have to say that as a family there is so much joy in a good thrill ride.

My passion for my industry has probably been the catalysis for my career. I absolutely love the newspaper business. Helping small business market their business to a community of newspaper readers is something I believe in whole heartedly.

There of course is nothing like the passion of a newspaper reader. You seem to form your opinions by how much you agree or disagree with something that was said in the paper. I have seen readers waiting at their doors at 9 a.m. on a late paper day still in their bathrobes because they don't know how to start their day without the paper. I'm the same way.

If you're like my wife you can't wait to get your inserts, so you can plan your next shopping trip. She says it is therapeutic.

If you are a business owner in our community, God bless you. You have chosen the most difficult path in life with the opportunity for the largest reward.

I look forward to working with you and discovering the best ways to market your services to our readers. I have been doing this for 14 years and I hope you will give me the opportunity to make a difference.

To my readers, I am not your editor and you will probably only really know me by my involvement in the community. Writing and giving my opinion is not my natural gift. However you are the reason I can do what I love every day, so I want to continue to be the best local source for information and community that you have in your life.

I want to hear from you on how we are doing in covering our community. This is your paper and the best thing I can do is help guide this paper to the areas that you most want covered.

Let me make just a short note on the state of our industry. This topic has heavily been debated it seems for most of my career. So here are my thoughts. The Internet will not bury me or your paper. Television and radio have already failed, and find themselves further out of touch than they ever imagined. The truth is that we own the local market place because I have the best staff available to cover local community. The Internet can only do that with my news, which is why the No. 1 web site in town is The Record-Courier's. I envision a time of change in my industry. Paper costs continue to skyrocket and the cost of doing business definitely affects the way I can do business. But if we focus on local community, and do that better than anyone else, I have to believe I will always have readers. With readers comes a marketplace and with a marketplace comes advertisers and this ensures survival. Will your paper change in the next 10 years? Yes.

My job is to make it better, with stronger local news, stronger community connections, stronger Internet communities, stronger business relations and yes stronger bottom lines. I hope you will continue to love your paper enough to voice your complaints and send your applause.

Stay active with your paper, demand excellence from its pages, call us to the carpet when we fall short and share with a friend when we rise to the challenge.

I so look forward to getting involved with my community as much as a busy father of two can, and hope to see you in the streets.

n Charlie Pankey is the publisher of The Record-Courier. Reach him at cpankey@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 208.