Kyle Larson, general manager of Larson Newspapers, has been named president of Arizona Newspapers Association.
Larson replaces Manuel Coppola, publisher of the Nogales International newspaper, who served two successive terms as president. Larson will serve as president for the 2018-19 fiscal year.
Larson graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science degree in business and managerial economics in 2004. He is the third generation of the Larson family to run Larson Newspapers. He has enjoyed the many challenges and successes of running local newspapers, as an assistant managing editor, production manager, advertising sales executive, advertising director and currently the General Manager of the family company, which publishes the Sedona Red Rock News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra and said he looks forward to running it for the next 30 years.
Outside of the day-to-day newspaper work, Larson has served on the boards of three nonprofits, currently both the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and the Sedona Historical Society, and formerly eight years on the now defunct Sedona Main Street Program.
Larson served on the ANA board for the past four years as a director and vice president before being named president.
“It’s both an honor and a privilege to be called upon to take over the reins of the organization,” Larson said.
Dealing with hundreds of businesses weekly and many other newspapers across the state is a huge asset, and Larson said he believes the key to success for the organization and its members is to harness the power of all of ANA members, small and large.
Member retention and revenue growth are keys to the growth of the organization. “With the right plan of action and attitude, we can accomplish our organizational goals, and with the right board and a trained staff we can get back to where we need to be,” Larson said of the ANA.
“One of the most exciting things about getting to talk with all of the other newspapers around the state is the optimism and enthusiasm they are showing,” Larson said. “There is wonderful energy that is growing in the newspaper industry, an energy that is welcome after a decade-long lull.”
“With that, does come change,” he said, citing the retirement of current and longtime ANA Executive Director Paula Casey.
“Paula has served the organization for more than 20 years and will surely be missed by the staff, its members, and the board of directors,” Larson said. “Paula is a vital organizational asset that’s not easily replaced — yet, that’s what we will be tasked with in the next few months. The board has placed two main priorities on the new director: increasing our membership, and gaining new revenue streams for the group and its members.”
“The next 12 months will be a crucial one for the organization and its many members and there will be many challenges faced both inside and outside the group,”
Larson said. “It is times like these where newspapers need to band together and form a stronger bond with each other. When we do that there is no public notice issue, revenue issue nor political issue that we cannot tackle.”
ANA was established in 1930, the successor to the Arizona Press Association of 1905 and the Arizona Daily Newspaper Association of 1922. The ANA is a nonprofit trade association representing more than 115 Arizona newspapers, governed by an 11-member board of directors elected by the member newspapers.
