Help from Minnesota for Verso Workers

$350,000 Available to Help Verso Workers Find New Jobs: Money that will help former Verso Paper workers retrain and find new jobs is available for those who were caught in layoffs. The Stearns-Benton Employment & Training Council has $350,000 from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development for up to 100 workers, said Sally Brenden, deputy director of the Stearns-Benton Employment & Training Council. In October, Verso Paper in Sartell announced it was shutting down two of its three paper-making machines. This month, 175 people were laid off, about 41 percent of the workers at the century-old mill.

Mark Andy Names New CEO

Mark Andy Announces Top Management Change: ST. LOUIS, MO—Dec. 21, 2011—Mark Andy Companies announced it has named PJ Desai as its new CEO effective Jan. 1, 2012. Desai spent several years of his career in various engineering and manufacturing positions in business units of the positions in business units of the Monsanto Co., including an assignment in Europe to design, construct and manage a new plant.

Some Titles See Digital Subscriptions Excel

For Some Titles, Digital Engagement Outweighs Print: 

Affinity’s American Magazine Study found that more subscribers access the digital versions than the printed for 15 magazines in their report.  (The digital category includes websites, social networks, smartphone and tablet apps, eReader apps and Zinio editions.)  At the top of the list, ranked by the number of digital subscriptions, were ESPN the Magazine, WebMD the magazine, Food Network Magazine, Money, Fortune and Forbes.  ESPN senior vice president and general manager for digital and print media John Kosner said “Unlike digital, print is constrained by the number of issues ESPN can print and circulate…” but he added, “There’s an ability with print to be authoritative, definitive, have a level of writing and editing and reflection that is hard to do…with the rapid fire website…[In print] the storytelling is better…There’s a way that photography can be revelatory in print.”  All of which left Mr. Kosner to conclude that despite the lower numbers, the print magazine “plays and invaluable role in the …product portfolio.” 

New York Times Co Sells Regional Papers

The New York Times Company Sells Regional Media Group: After The New York Times Company said it was in advanced talks to sell off its Regional Media Group, it announced late Tuesday that it has agreed to sell 16 local papers to Halifax Media Holdings for $143 million in cash.
The papers span 6 states, including 5 in Florida, 3 in California, 3 in North Carolina, 1 in South Carolina, 2 in Alabama and 2 in Louisiana.

Online Holiday Spending Up 15%

Final Christmas Push Propels US Online Holiday Spending to $35.3 Billion, Up 15%, comScore Finds: comScore has reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 56 days of the November - December 2011 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $35.3 billion has been spent online, marking a 15% increase versus the corresponding days last year.