Saluting Six Top Managers

By: Jim Rosenberg While their backgrounds, newspapers, companies, and markets may differ, the six winners of E&P's inaugural Production All-Stars awards share at least one important professional characteristic: They all worked their way up through the ranks, sharing what they learned, remembering who helped them along, and assisting those who will succeed them in an industry coping with changing business demands and technologies.

The awards process went like this: Candidates were selected by others at their newspapers. Nomination forms were submitted by managers, and signed by top executives at those papers. Winners were then selected by a tally of votes by five judges (listed at right). The awards will be presented on Sept. 20 at the annual conference of the International Newspaper Group (ING) in Detroit at the Crowne Plaza-Airport Hotel. E&P will be making a donation of $500 for each winner to ING's Scholarship fund for college students.

The final-round judges were:

Gary Watson, managing partner with CSW & Associates consultants, Cocoa Beach, Fla. Retired last September after 39 years with Gannett Co. Inc., where he was president of its newspaper division since 1990.

Jack Stanley, retired in 2002 as senior vice president/operations and technology at the Houston Chronicle.

Mark Mikolajczyk, president and publisher of Florida Today in Melbourne since January. Served as CEO of the Detroit Newspaper Partnership, and previously was Gannett Newspaper Division senior vice president/operations.

Ken Harding, Denver-based director of The Facility Group; previously served as Tribune Publishing's vice president/operations and distribution. He has specialized in newspapers for McClier Corp., designAlliance, and Peter Lendrum Associates.

Judy Oliver Busby, principal at The Busby Group, which consults on newspaper process transformation. Recently served as maintenance and engineering director at the Chicago Tribune and was a process consultant with the former Blevins Harding Group and a newspaper packaging manager.