Niagara Frontier Publications mourns founder, owner & publisher, Skip Mazenauer

A staunch community advocate, proud Grand Island son, and strong newspaper champion has died.

Arthur “Skip” Mazenauer passed on Christmas Eve, following a short period of declining health. Up until his final month, Skip, 80, was still doing what he loved most: working with his NFP family, suggesting advertising ideas, and leaving behind his signature handwritten notes.

Skip served in many leadership roles, including as a director at large for the New York Press Association board of directors. He also served in the officerships of the Grand Island Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce.

When elected Rotary president in 1973-74, Skip was among the youngest such leaders in North America. Twice, he was named a Paul Harris Fellow.

Skip was a founding member of the Grand Island Builders Association and served on the board of directors. Here, he worked to promote the construction of new builds and a better quality of life on the Island via yearly onsite home shows.

One of the key promoters of the Niagara County bicentennial in 2008, Skip was appointed among the founding executive committee members. He spent two years helping to plan and stage the yearlong celebration.

He was a director of the New York State Builders Association and president of the Niagara County Builders Association. He was instrumental in the formation of the Lower River Region Chamber of Commerce (now Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce), where he served as chairman for two terms.

On Jan. 29, 2014, Skip was presented with the Niagara University Family Business Center Vision Award. The accolade recognizes businesspeople who are successful, lead a family- or privately owned Western New York business, are committed to benefiting the community, and who have created something when others did not foresee an opportunity.

The late Susan Mikula Campbell covered the occasion and shared the following:

Sometimes it takes a bit of vision to get a good idea off the ground.

In 1978, Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable stereo; balloon angioplasty was developed to treat coronary heart disease; and few people thought selling bottled water could be successful.

On the local scene that year, Skip Mazenauer purchased the Grand Island Dispatch, believing he could make the publication a success and wanting to make sure his hometown wasn’t left without local news from its own newspaper. …

He still firmly believes in the value of local news. …

His business has been a labor of love for Mazenauer. Growing up, he planned to become a veterinarian. Instead, he ended up taking over the Grand Island PennySaver, which had been launched by his parents in the late-1940s (one of the first such publications in Western New York).

By 1978, the Island Dispatch, which had been founded by Islander Ollie Howard in 1944 – coincidentally, the year Mazenauer was born – had been through six owners in 12 years and was on the verge of closing.

“I felt very comfortable with the idea I could make it a success, and I felt the community needed a strong local newspaper,” Mazenauer said. However, he added, “Both my accountant and my attorney told me not to do it.”

His wife, Judy, pointed out, “People really close to Skip know he’s a real optimist. He’s always saying, ‘We can make this work.’ ”

Make it work, he did, and in 1985, he moved into Niagara County, founding the Niagara-Wheatfield Tribune, followed by the Lewiston-Porter Sentinel in 1987. (The weekly papers) emphasize local news with coverage of their towns’ governments, school districts, churches, businesses, organizations and people. The website, www.wnypapers.com, was added in 2010, and provides not only local news from the individual NFP papers, but arts and entertainment, regional news, contests, a photo gallery and videos.

One of Mazenauer’s secrets of success has been personal involvement in the communities his papers serve. He’s been a member, a board member, an officer and, in some cases, even helped found numerous community groups. Just a small sampling would include Grand Island’s Neighbors Foundation, Grand Island Rotary Club, Artpark in Lewiston, Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, and the Aquarium of Niagara in Niagara Falls.

On weekends, he and his wife often could be found at special events, ranging from Grand Island’s Paddles Up to Lewiston’s War of 1812 historical reenactments.

“I keep telling him that, with his knowledge, he would be a wonderful tour guide or ambassador for the area,” Judy commented.

When a crisis hits, the Mazenauers are not above getting down to the very basics of the business. They have been seen dropping off bundles for carriers and even delivering paper routes themselves. As with most small businesses, no task is too small. They believe all aspects are important for success.

Newspapers, especially local weekly newspapers, are not becoming dinosaurs; there’s still important work to be done, according to Mazenauer. They’re the ones who cover stories the larger daily papers mostly ignore, such as the tales of people in the community who don’t get credit for their hard work, and stories of interest to senior citizens and parents.

NFP, in recent years, has collected three New York Press Association awards (a first in feature writing and a third in spot news for the Tribune, and a first in photography for the Dispatch).

Mazenauer also finds satisfaction in helping small local businesses find a way to grow by aiding in the development of successful marketing plans.

His own business approach is simple: “If we consistently serve the individuals in the community and their corresponding governments, school districts, service organizations, and so forth, we can be the medium they choose to disseminate their news and information.”

The Niagara Frontier Publications website notes, “Under the leadership of Mazenauer and his staff, NFP has been instrumental in helping the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce to create the Grand Island Citizen of the Year and Property Improvement awards and to publish early editions of the Grand Island telephone book and tourist maps. Ever community-minded, NFP continues to work with the surrounding towns and villages to promote local events by co-sponsoring their marketing. Examples include Lewiston’s Jazz Festival, Harvest Festival, Christmas Walk and Peach Festival. …

“In 2002, Niagara Frontier Publications and the Lewiston-Porter Sentinel were selected by (what is now the Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce) to receive the Morgan Lewis Partnership Award, named after the founder of Lewiston, for its contributions to the Lewiston community. NFP was honored by the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce as the 2005 Business of the Year at the 40th annual Citizen of the Year banquet. In 2006, the company was also honored by the (Chamber of Commerce) for excellence in community-focused journalism. In the dedication of its 2006 membership directory to the owners and staff of NFP, the (Chamber of Commerce) proclaimed of NFP, “Their dedicated efforts have helped to instill pride in the residents and leadership of the River Region and played a major role in the success of our events and festivals.”

Skip served as a mentor to his NFP staff. He was always ready, willing and able to serve as a sounding board; to defend his employees when something negative was written and offense was taken; and to fill in the gaps where needed – whether selling ads, taking pictures, attending events, or even delivering newspapers in all possible weather conditions.

He was one of a kind, and will be missed by all who knew him.

NFP GM/Managing Editor Joshua Maloni said, “When you think about newspapers, and you think about everything that goes into a newspaper, you think about Skip. He was involved in every aspect.

“He was our biggest supporter, he was our biggest defender. He was the kind of person that you could go to if you had a problem, and despite the fact that he was the boss – despite the fact that he was the publisher and you might think this question or this problem or this issue is insignificant for the boss – he never handled it that way. He never treated us like we were a bother or a nuisance. He was always ready to help us. He was always willing to defend us. He was always able to do whatever it took to make sure that we could put together the best product possible for our audience – for our community.

“Skip loved Grand Island. He loved the people of Grand Island and the people in our coverage areas in Niagara County. He loved being involved. He was active on a number of civic organizations. He had leadership roles with a number of organizations. He just really enjoyed being a part of the community. He enjoyed helping people get their message across. He enjoyed helping local businesses maximize their return on investment. He always just wanted to see the community and its people and its small businesses be successful and thrive, and he used these publications as a means to do that – as a means to make the community, its members and its businesses be that much more profitable, that much more successful, and that much more impactful.

“This was his business, and, of course, he wanted it to be successful. He wanted all of his employees to be successful; but he wanted this to be a valuable tool and a valuable resource for our readers and for our communities, and he really wanted to make sure that anyone who advertised with us – and small businesses, in particular – could benefit.

“The newspaper industry has changed a lot over the past 20 years … and certainly we’ve had to grow and expand and evolve like every other newspaper, doing more with digital and social media. But Skip’s approach never changed. He was committed to serving the community. He was committed to serving its people. He was dedicated to making this part of Western New York be the best it could be. That was always the most important thing for Skip.”