NFP is GI Chamber’s Business of the Year

Grand Island Dispatch, March 31, 2006

Niagara Frontier Publications, publisher of the Island Dispatch and the Grand Island PennySaver, will be honored as the 2005 Business of the Year by the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce at the 40th annual Citizen of the Year banquet.

The event will take place on Thursday, April 27 at the Holiday Inn Grand Island Resort and Conference Center.

NFP, owned and operated by Skip and Judy Mazenauer, publishes four weekly newspapers and has 21 full- and part-time employees at its longstanding Grand Island office. The company also employs many free-lance writers and photographers, as well as 40-plus independent newspaper carriers. Its offices are at 1859 Whitehaven Road.

The Dispatch is the official paper of Grand Island. In addition to the Dispatch and PennySaver, NFP also publishes the Niagara-Wheatfield Tribune and the Lewiston-Porter Sentinel and maintains a Web site, www.wnypapers.com. Combined, these reach more than 100,000 readers weekly.

Year after year, local families turn to NFP’s papers for complete hometown news. From breaking news, to town, school and sports events, to the personal milestones that make people proud, the communities served by NFP know they can count on their local paper for the news that touches their lives.

NFP is actively involved in supporting various community organizations and events, not only with strong editorial content, but also with discounted and donated advertising to ensure the utmost success.

In addition, NFP has always made an effort to hire Grand Islanders to support the community that has supported their local papers through the years. The company’s offices are maintained on Grand Island in order to support the Island’s economy and remain accessible to residents.

Over the years, NFP, itself, has been the proud recipient of awards and honors for editorial content, including several from the New York Press Association.

Ever community-minded, NFP has been publishing for more than 50 years. The Dispatch was founded in 1944 by Ollie Howard; the PennySaver was launched in 1950 by Art and Dorothy Mazenauer, the first such paper in Western New York. The Dispatch had various owners, until 1978, when it was purchased by NFP so that Grand Island would not be without a local paper.

Skip Mazenauer, a member of the Grand Island Chamber for more than 40 years, has served as its president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. He assisted the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce in publishing early editions of the Island telephone book and tourist maps.

NFP was instrumental in assisting the Chamber in creating the Grand Island Citizen of the Year and Property Improvement awards. The company also helped establish the Neighbors Foundation and early trade fairs of Grand Island businesses.

Mazenauer has been a member of the Grand Island Rotary for more than 40 years. He served as secretary and vice president, as well as being one of the youngest Rotarian presidents in North America. He also was honored by his nomination as a Paul Harris Fellow.

NFP helped establish the Grand Island Builders Association, which promoted the construction of new homes and the quality of life on Grand Island. Mazenauer recently was re-elected to the State Board of Directors for the NCBA, for which he is serving for his sixth year. He was honored twice by the NCBA as Man of the Year. NFP assists in the administration of the annual Festival of Homes home show and is solely responsible for all publicity and advertising for this highly successful event.

Mazenauer is a member of the Niagara USA Chamber and the Lower Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce, for which he currently is serving as vice chairman.

Judy Mazenauer has worked with her husband, Skip, for more than 20 years in various capacities, including duties as comptroller and human resources manager. Before working at NFP, she was an elementary school teacher for more than 17 years.

Over the years, under Judy’s guidance, many of NFP’s departments have been reorganized and updated. When the move was made to NFP’s current location, the former Grand Island Post Office, she helped clean up, redesign and expand the building. Through her supervision and guidance, the circulation, general accounting, production and editorial departments were upgraded, along with state-of-the-art computer hardware and software.