Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
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Former Asheville Citizen-Times online director John Yenne has joined the Iwanna, Asheville’s free weekly packed with classified advertising. Classified ads in print — that’s an anomaly in this digital ads, but Iwanna has been making it work for 30 years.
Yenne joins former Citizen-Times publisher Jeff Green at Iwanna. Green has just been promoted at the Iwanna, which is owned by the Fayetteville Observer. The announcement was made Sunday:
Jeff Green has been named president and CEO of the company’s Iwanna division, with headquarters in Asheville. The division includes classified-advertising publications based in Asheville and Greenville, S.C., and their Internet operations (www.iwanna.com), Sophie magazine in Asheville and a commercial-printing business.
Green joined Fayetteville Publishing in 2008 as the chief marketing officer.
It sounds like Iwanna is poised for some big moves this year.
The Iwanna made one other announcement on Sunday:
Jeff Schumacher has been named general manager, responsible for the operations of The Fayetteville Observer, the company’s other publications and Web sites and its commercial-printing division.
Schumacher comes to Fayetteville from Waynesville, where he served as general manager of Mountaineer Publishing and Tucker Publishing, a family-owned company whose holdings include community newspapers and specialty publications in western North Carolina and Tennessee and national mall-outlet magazines.
Before coming to Waynesville in 2002, he oversaw a group of 15 newspapers in the Dakotas, Wyoming and Nebraska.
Schumacher, 45, is originally from North Dakota. He and his wife, Michelle, have four children.
John Yenne writes (above): "When I arrived in Asheville the community publications division was losing money, when I left it was profitable."
If you had made the community publications division at ACT profitable you wouldn’t have been "downsized last December" as reported in the WLOS video above. As a long time Gannett employee I can attest to the fact that the company is a true meritocracy. John just couldn’t cut it here. So, he’s now with the Mom & Pops over at IWANNA and, clearly, feeling more than a little insecure about it.
Great point Jeff. Don’t think you have to respond to little people and their opinions. Like I said they are just little people. This area seems to harbor people that blame everyone else but themselves. Don’t sweat it and keep the IWANNA a strong force in this area.
"Again". There is a bit of a difference between corporate greed (as in excess profits) and profitability itself. When I arrived in Asheville the community publications division was losing money, when I left it was profitable. I’ve never enjoyed laying people off…it’s the worst part of the job, but Presidents and Publishers do have a responsibility to their owners to use resources in an intelligent and profitable way.
Iwanna is still a family owned company, just part of the larger Broadwell family owned Fayetteville Publishing Company. If we can, even in this economy, we would rather try to grow revenues than cut costs. We have had some success, especially in Greenville which is ahead of last year and with commercial printing in the wake of the A C-T plant closing. But, you have to retain both options (revenue and expense) to be a responsible manager.
Well, well. Jeff Green and John Yenne land at Iwanna. Will they continue what they started at the CT? I wonder if Jeff and John’s training at Gannett will encourage them to micro-manage the long term employees at Iwanna?
How long will it take for Jeff to slash the staff at Iwanna. While Hatchet Hammer has laid off over 1/3 of the CT staff and closed the press plant in 2008, Jeff Green started the layoffs in mid-2007 by eliminating a Community Publications Director, a community publication sales manager, several sales people for community publications and more. He is motivated by pure greed and will make revenue numbers at whatever the cost to personnel and morale.
Just what the world needs, people to create a greedy, corporate environment in a family operated business.
We do not outsource our ad design. We believe in local business and hiring local folks. That being said, we have very few full time designers. Most of our design/production employees work part time, late week, evening and weekend schedules to match our work flow. No vacancies right now, but resumes can go to [email protected]. We’ll happily hang onto any we get in case something opens up.
John Yenne writes (above): "When I arrived in Asheville the community publications division was losing money, when I left it was profitable."
If you had made the community publications division at ACT profitable you wouldn’t have been "downsized last December" as reported in the WLOS video above. As a long time Gannett employee I can attest to the fact that the company is a true meritocracy. John just couldn’t cut it here. So, he’s now with the Mom & Pops over at IWANNA and, clearly, feeling more than a little insecure about it.
Jeff Green:
Great point Jeff. Don’t think you have to respond to little people and their opinions. Like I said they are just little people. This area seems to harbor people that blame everyone else but themselves. Don’t sweat it and keep the IWANNA a strong force in this area.
"Again". There is a bit of a difference between corporate greed (as in excess profits) and profitability itself. When I arrived in Asheville the community publications division was losing money, when I left it was profitable. I’ve never enjoyed laying people off…it’s the worst part of the job, but Presidents and Publishers do have a responsibility to their owners to use resources in an intelligent and profitable way.
Iwanna is still a family owned company, just part of the larger Broadwell family owned Fayetteville Publishing Company. If we can, even in this economy, we would rather try to grow revenues than cut costs. We have had some success, especially in Greenville which is ahead of last year and with commercial printing in the wake of the A C-T plant closing. But, you have to retain both options (revenue and expense) to be a responsible manager.
Well, well. Jeff Green and John Yenne land at Iwanna. Will they continue what they started at the CT? I wonder if Jeff and John’s training at Gannett will encourage them to micro-manage the long term employees at Iwanna?
How long will it take for Jeff to slash the staff at Iwanna. While Hatchet Hammer has laid off over 1/3 of the CT staff and closed the press plant in 2008, Jeff Green started the layoffs in mid-2007 by eliminating a Community Publications Director, a community publication sales manager, several sales people for community publications and more. He is motivated by pure greed and will make revenue numbers at whatever the cost to personnel and morale.
Just what the world needs, people to create a greedy, corporate environment in a family operated business.
Beth, my mistake. You’re correct.
We do not outsource our ad design. We believe in local business and hiring local folks. That being said, we have very few full time designers. Most of our design/production employees work part time, late week, evening and weekend schedules to match our work flow. No vacancies right now, but resumes can go to [email protected]. We’ll happily hang onto any we get in case something opens up.
Free? Where I live, the Iwanna costs a buck and a quarter. Is there a place to get it free?
does anyone know if the Iwanna outsources their ad design?
Congrats to John! And Jeff!!!
What great news. There is life after the ACT.