Whenever people ask me how things are going at the Peak, I always say, “Busy, but good.”
It’s the nature of our business; everything is deadline-driven and there’s never a dull moment around the Peak office. Because of this fast-paced, pressured environment, it takes a pretty special kind of person to work here.
This is a chance to thank my staff: the wonderful people who put together two newspapers a week, then do it all over again every week of the year. (Add to that our special publications, online products and everything else we do.)
Our staff may work like machines, but I have come to fully understand over the past 12 months how much they truly care about their jobs.
Our associate publisher Kelly Keil has been the rock of our operation the past few months since coming into the new position in August. Keil has been with us since she was in high school, but every day is still a new adventure for her and she is always game for it.
Shane Carlson is often the unrecognized piece of the Peak puzzle; an editorial assistant is a necessity for any publisher/editor (actually, there are not many of us publisher/editors out there, but that just furthers my point). Carlson is an excellent writer and editor who is always eyes-deep in copy and blindsides us with his sharp wit on a regular basis.
Reporters Chris Bolster and David Brindle are the pulse of the community and it is a constant pleasure to read local stories through their words. The amount of time these two spend in front of their keyboards borders on unhealthy, so when you see them in the community, please remind them to get out for fresh air more often.
Our Peak sales team of Cindy Bavin, Dot Campbell and Debbie Galinski are the faces of the Peak in the business community and have strong relationships with their advertising clients. They are passionate about helping local businesses and have day-planners that would make a social butterfly weak in the knees.
Circulation manager Michèle Stewart not only keeps more than 50 newspaper carriers on task every week, she also oversees our circulation and bindery staff. Despite the hard work of stuffing and delivering thousands of papers every week, they still have a lot of fun out there in the bindery. I know this because I can hear them from my office. I credit Stewart for keeping the energy up and making the Peak a reliable part-time job for circulation/bindery staff and carriers.
Our classifieds coordinator Erika Davies is new. She hasn’t run screaming for the door yet, seems to enjoy working here and is doing excellent work. These are all reassuring things.
Last, but certainly not least, creative services director Alicia Newman is the person who makes all of the Peak’s products look amazing. She has run her department flawlessly over the past year. In fact, oftentimes she is the department.
And that is the Peak team. I spend at least 40 hours a week with them and enjoy almost every minute of it.
It’s busy, but it’s good.
Jason Schreurs will manage to salvage a few days off during the holidays and has a feeling 2017 will be another busy but good year.
