We are still the same

We’ve had a handful of calls and emails in the last few weeks asking what our future holds.

Do we have plans to sell to an out-of-state heiress, change our name, and our coverage area?

None of the above; we’re still the same.

We’re still the same hometown newspaper that has served the Matanuska and Susitna valleys since before there was a Mat-Su Borough or a state of Alaska. We’ve seen a territory become a state and a series of newspapers, TV and radio stations come and go in our nearly 67 years of life.

We’re your small, hometown newspaper. One popular feature in the Sunday Frontiersman is called “People We Know,” but that’s really what the whole paper is about three times each week. We only cover the Mat-Su and its people. We cover Mat-Su sports, Mat-Su government and we share the stories of our Mat-Su neighbors’ triumphs and struggles. We specialize in bread and butter stuff — what’s the parade route and what time does it start? What acts are at the Alaska State Fair this year? What time is the governor’s picnic?

Year-round we employ nearly three dozen full-time staff members and about two dozen additional independent contractors totaling more than $1 million a year in payroll paid to people who live, work, play and spend their money in this community.

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman is owned by Wick Communications, which is based in Sierra Vista, Ari. The company owns more than 20 community newspapers across the U.S. But the staff members who run the Frontiersman day-to-day live here; we are proud to be your neighbors. Like you, we could live anywhere, but we choose to call the Valley home. We choose to send our kids to the Mat-Su Borough School District, and we’re proud to hire those students when they return to our community with their university degrees in hand.

For most of our existence the Frontiersman was printed in Anchorage and the papers were driven back to the Valley for delivery. We redoubled our commitment to our community nearly a decade ago in 2005 when we invested in a printing press and press building — that’s the big green structure next door to our business offices off Mayflower Court.

In truth, there are some changes coming.

Last week we hired two reporters to help add more local news and photos to the Frontiersman in print and online. We’re excited about the possibilities and new energy that Brian O’Connor and Caitlin Skvorc add to our newsroom.

O’Connor is a veteran journalist who comes to the Valley from Wrangell where he ran the weekly newspaper for that community. Before he’d even started work here last week a member of that community sent us an email congratulating us on adding him to our staff!

“I congratulate you on your choice of reporters and hope that Brian is as much a part of your community as he was here in Wrangell,” wrote Don McConachie of Wrangell.

You may recognize our other new reporter — Skvorc is Alaska Grown. She grew up in the Valley, graduated from Mat-Su schools, completed her degree at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minn., and moved home where she was hired by the Frontiersman last week.

So how local is she? When we told Skvorc she’d landed a job where she’d be paid to go to the Alaska State Fair for work, she threw her hands in the air in celebration, “Score!”

We hope you will join us in welcoming O’Connor and Skvorc.

Thank you friends and neighbors for reading and supporting the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman with your subscriptions and advertisements through our first 66 years of service. We look forward to many more years of working side-by-side with our neighbors as we continue to build this community.