21st Century Newspapers Boosts Corporate Staff

By: Lucia Moses Pontiac, Mich.-based 21st Century Newspapers Inc. announced a series of executive appointments to reflect its rapid growth and expansion plans for this year.

Doug Haensel, who has a mergers-and-acquisition background, was named president and chief operating officer. Formerly executive vice president, he will continue as chief financial officer.

"Instead of Doug and I running [the company] out of our briefcases, we now have a corporate staff," said Chairman and Founder Frank H. Shepherd. The 6-year-old chain roughly doubled its revenue to $200 million last year through two deals and is negotiating a few more, he said.

Other changes will centralize human-resource and information-technology functions as well as promote best practices and performance-review standards.