Frank Mercer has history with the Carrollton Democrat, one of four newspapers being handed over to new owners by his Main Street Media this week.

Forty years ago, a role at the Democrat set him off on a career with newspapers, making the sale to CherryRoad Media this week “bittersweet”.

He says in the search for the right next steward of the paper, CherryRoad “stood out… with a strong track record of keeping community newspapers alive and innovating during a challenging time for the industry”.

After the transaction – and another that places its three Missouri papers with Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce – MSM will focus exclusively in Kansas and Nebraska, where it has 18 newspapers.

The Carrollton Democrat, founded in the late 1800s, is also the last Missouri title to leave the MSM stable. By that standard, Jeremy Gulban’s CherryRoad Media is a relative newcomer, entering the newspaper industry in late 2020 with the acquisition of the weekly Cook County News-Herald in midwest Minnesota, expanding its footprint to newspapers in a further 17 states, and providing management services to other newspaper publishers.

“Community newspapers are facing unprecedented challenges, but they remain vital to local democracy and civic life,” says the CherryRoad chief executive (pictured). “Our approach is patient, responsible ownership – supporting strong local reporting while building sustainable operations that allow these papers to endure."

CherryRoad Media is a wholly owned by New Jersey-based CherryRoad Technologies, which provides technology and system integration services to large customers, especially state and local government. Gulban’s view is that “community journalism needs supportive, technology-enabled solutions – not extractive or disruptive ones – to survive and thrive”.

Among recent ventures, Gulban’s company worked with the mayor of Trenton, Missouri to launch a new community-owned weekly, the Trenton Telegraph last September, following the closure of the Trenton Republican-Times the previous June.

While the Grundy County Industrial Development Corporation owns the new paper, it is being managed by CherryRoad, which receives 70 per cent of proceeds. The community ownership model is something Gulban hopes to establish elsewhere, bringing experience from starting papers in Minnesota and Texas, and restarting five in Ohio.

A different approach is afoot in Missouri, where the Lexington Chamber is taking on the Lexington News, Higginsville Advance and Santa Fe Times News, with day-to-day management of all three led by general manager Megan Fisher Mackie, who has overseen operations at the Higginsville Advance and the Lexington News in recent years.

Chamber executive director Jeff Banhart says the acquisition “aligns naturally” with its mission to support the local community. “The more we explored it, the more we realised what a natural fit it is for a chamber to be connected to its local community newspapers.”

Media merger and acquisition firm Dirks, Van Essen & April represented Main Street Media in both transactions, terms of which were not disclosed.