Ohio joins the Column partner program

The Ohio News Media Association is known for achieving the highest standards of excellence in journalism and newspaper publishing, and today they join our partner program. We are honored to work with them as they continue the vital work of advancing news media and local journalism.

This strong trade association represents all 400 of Ohio’s daily and weekly newspapers. Their work is impressive and wide-ranging: ONMA administers a full program of member services, from legal assistance to advertising services, to government relations and lobbying, to public notice archives. Their advocacy for open government is admirable and tireless; they are strong supporters of public records transparency and the first amendment rights of journalists. It’s clear that ONMA takes care of its members.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to roll out a new site later this spring for those who currently use publicnoticesohio.com to search for bids, meeting notices, foreclosures and other important legal notice news items,” said Monica Nieporte, president and executive director of the Ohio News Media Association. “The new site will be very user-friendly. Our new partnership with Column will provide a more robust site while also bringing cost savings to the association. It’s important that we maximize our limited resources for the benefit of both our members and their advertisers.”

The Column team will be modernizing their statewide public notice website, making critical improvements to the accessibility of their site as well as adding improved search and alert functionality for the public. Looking ahead, we expect to support them with future products that add further utility to their statewide public notice archive. Public notices are a critical part of good government decision-making; they inform the citizenry and ensure public transparency, accountability and engagement. Public notices are essential for the vitality of the newspaper industry, which ONMA has been committed to upholding since its founding in 1933.

The Ohio News Media Association inspires us with their dedication to their members as they meet the news and information needs of their local communities. We look forward to learning from ONMA, supporting them with our current initiatives, and dreaming up new and creative ways to be the best partner to them that we can be. We are also excited to continue our work with other publishers in the state, like Ogden Newspapers, that currently use our enterprise platform to shape and secure the future of public notice.

"It’s encouraging to see our Partner Program continue growing already in the new year,” said Jake Seaton, the CEO of Column, “especially as we anticipate the imminent launch of new features that will support our partners’ statewide public notice initiatives. We welcome ONMA to a roster of amazing partners and public notice advocates in our program.”

Ohio joins Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Kansas, Florida, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming in switching from legacy systems to Column in the past year.

In keeping with Column’s commitment to deploy $500k in the partner program in 2022, ONMA received $10,000 from Column upfront in lieu of our standard revenue share. As a reminder, any state association joining the Column Partner Program in Q1 is eligible to receive this upfront payment as an alternative to the revenue share Column typically offers. For questions about our Partner Program or this new investment, reach out at info@column.us.