It’s a win for the home team

Phil Cobb

They say you should celebrate the victories.

Those closest to me certainly hear a lot about the defeats.

And in the world of small-town business ownership, the challenges seem to present themselves quite often.

But today I want to talk about a win.

We took over ownership of the Maryville Daily Forum in December of 2013, so we are closing in on four years at the helm.

In that time, I can count 22 people who have worked for us, but no longer do.

I’m not going to get into whether or not we were glad to see some of them go.

I can honestly say that I have fond memories of each and every one of the people who have helped us along the way.

If I didn’t like them, I never would have hired them in the first place.

Some of my best friends in this world are people who I have parted ways with professionally for one reason or another.

Just because your philosophies don’t align, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a mutual respect.

Hey! … There’s a timely message.

But that’s not what this is about.

Today I want to talk about the current state of our newspaper staff.

In the earliest planning stages of this venture, my discussions with Jim Fall included this strategy:

Hire the right people, put them in the best position to succeed, give them the tools necessary for success, and get out of the way.

We have largely failed to achieve that goal … until now.

Right now, I can firmly state that we have the best and most complete combination of personnel that we have ever had.

Finding the right mix of personnel, I’ve found, is the biggest challenge to running a small business, and especially, I believe, a small daily newspaper.

I guess from the outside looking in, four years doesn’t seem like too long to put a team together.

I mean, it took Dayton Moore about seven or eight years.

And if you think he was faced with payroll constraints, come look at our balance sheet.

Of course, keeping that team together is the second biggest challenge.

Right, Dayton?

Even in the retention department, I feel like we’re in better shape than we’ve ever been.

I don’t see any departures coming anytime soon.

And before you say it, I’ll stop you right there — I don’t believe in jinxes.

We don’t take the position we’re in for granted, and we give thanks every day.

Now, you might say, “What about Jerry Lutz … didn’t he just leave?”

We’ll definitely miss Jerry, but he was obviously underemployed here and we couldn’t be happier that he has found a good fit.

And here’s the thing: We’ve had the advertising side of this thing under control for quite some time.

It’s only been recently that we have clicked on all cylinders on the news side.

Now that the news side is functioning at full strength, I can personally focus more on reconnecting with our business partners.

Kaity Holtman, Twyla Martin, and I can each take a little bit of Jerry’s account list and we shouldn’t skip a beat.

I spent Tuesday afternoon out meeting with advertisers, and although the air was a little chillier than it should have been for Oct. 10, it was a breath of fresh air nonetheless.

I realized it’s been about three years since I’ve personally called on advertising accounts, and Tuesday afternoon honestly put a much-needed bounce in my step.

It’s also been a big improvement at home.

Being able to be present in the moment with my family in the evenings and on the weekends has been a refreshing relief.

I understand the perception from the outside can be much different from where I sit, but if you haven’t noticed yet, I’m sure you will.

First on board was sports editor Jon Dykstra, who has quickly thrown his arms around the sports scene.

Jon has the rare combination of skills to make this work.

His strongest suit is his writing, but he’s also a good photographer and can lay out his own pages.

Along with veteran part-timer Dustin Henggeler and a couple of stringers here and there, I believe our sports section is in the best of hands.

Most recently, has been the addition of Skye Pournazari.

Skye was recommended to us by former managing editor Cody Thorn, who, by the way, is still doing some work for us from his new perch in Independence.

A shout out goes to Cody for his ability to recognize talent.

Skye mostly did page layout and design work during a lengthy stint at the St. Joseph News-Press, but was maybe overlooked for her writing and reporting skills.

Talk about a breath of fresh air.

Skye coming on board has been the most significant change to my day-to-day activities, as well as my evening and weekend time.

She joins veteran news hound Tony Brown and up-and-comer Tom Pinney to complete the news team.

I can’t say thank you enough to our newest additions, and to those who have weathered through all the ups and downs over the past few years, our readers, our advertisers and our staff.

Phil Cobb is the owner and publisher of the Maryville Daily Forum and The Post.