Newspaper publisher and printer, ECM Publishers, has added another community newspaper to its operation by acquiring the Morrison County Record newspaper of Little Falls.

Record owner Carol Hoheisel and ECM Publishersí publisher and chief executive officer Julian Andersen today announced the sale and acquisition of the Morrison County Record.

ECM Publishers, with corporate offices in Coon Rapids, now has 20 community weekly newspapers and seven shopper publications.

The combined weekly newspaper circulation of ECM is now reported at 175,200. ECM shopper distribution reaches more than 233,000 homes weekly. Prior to the acquisition, ECM employed 460 part- and full-time associates.

The Record is the legal newspaper of Morrison County and is delivered to more than 18,500 homes in Morrison County and five surrounding counties. The Farm and Country Record is mailed to 3,500 additional households, bringing its total circulation to over 22,000. The Record averages 112 tabloid pages weekly and has been printed at ECMís printing plant in Princeton for more than five years.

One of the premier business success stories in Morrison County, the Record actually began in 1973 when Hoheisel purchased the Rich Prairie Shopper from Gene and Millie Gruber of Genola. With a $500 loan for the down payment from Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Pierz, Hoheisel built the eight-page advertising circular into one of the stateís most highly respected community weekly newspapers. The shopper was initially printed on yellow stock and contained only display advertising for customers in Eastern Morrison County not reached by subscription papers. With the purchase of the business came one employee and two pieces of equipment. Today, the business employs 44 part- and full-time associates.

The late Bob Wright joined Hoheiselís newspaper operation in 1973 to assume accounting duties. The name of the shopper was changed in 1975 to the Morrison County Shopper. In 1976 Hoheisel purchased the Heartland Peach from Jim McCoy, who earlier purchased the Sunshine Shopper of Pierz. A Little Falls office was opened. The Journal-Banner, a combination of the Pierz Journal and the Royalton Banner, ceased publication in 1980. The century-old Little Falls Daily Transcript closed its doors in 1982 after merging with the St. Cloud Times. An auxiliary free shopper was short-lived. The Record survived seven publications struggling for a share of the marketplace.

Another name change occurred in April, 1979, when the shopper became the Morrison County Record. The Record became a legal newspaper in 1980 by special legislation, the first free circulation paper in Minnesota and nation so designated. In 1981 Hoheisel and Wright purchased A.D.S. Delivery Service and renamed it Alternate Delivery Systems, and operated it as a separate entity.
The newspaper continued to grow with Hoheisel and Wright purchasing the VFW building at 216 SE 1st Street in Little Falls and moving there on Nov. 1, 1989.

The Record established a presence on the Web at www.mcrecord.com in 1997.

Hoheisel said she often marvels at how she became involved in the newspaper business, her first love always being music. She attended the College of St. Benedict and the University of Minnesota and while giving piano lessons, she took on a temporary job for the Rich Prairie Shopper, picking up ads for a few weeks until owner Gene Gruber found a sales rep, because his rep quit without notice (and started the Sunshine Shopper). ìI found out that helping business people come up with ad ideas was more fun than giving music lessions to kids who didnít practice,î Hoheisel mused.

ìI am very proud of the newspaper legacy left by the Record in Morrison County and surrounding counties by its dedicated and creative staff,î said Hoheisel. ìI am sure that under ECM Publishersí direction, the publication will continue to grow in service to its readers and communities,î she added.

The Record is a member of the Minnesota Free Papers Association, the Minnesota Newspaper Association, the Independent Free Papers of America and the Minnesota News Council. Both Hoheisel and Wright had leadership roles in the MFPA and IFPA. The Record staff has earned hundreds of state and national advertising and writing awards over the years including First Place General Excellence in 1999.

Publisher Andersen, son of the late Elmer L. Andersen, founder of ECM Publishers, says the acquisition of the Morrison County Record will help ECM Publishers meet its goal in its Mission Statement of serving and benefiting customers, associates, shareholders and communities ìby gathering and communicating information; by providing superior products and services; by promoting and maintaining excellence throughout ECMís operations; by operating honestly, ethically and with respect for all with whom we deal; by participating actively in community betterment and by contributing to individual freedom, peace and justice in the world.î
Andersen says ECM ìheartily welcomes the Morrison County Record and its people to the foldî and ìis excited about the potential of further growthî because of the addition of this quality publication.

He pointed out that the Record and ECM Publishers share organizational and philosophical similarities.

Jeff Athmann, president of ECM, has worked with Hoheisel and Wright on newspaper projects over the years and called both ìtrue professionals in their fieldsî who devoted unending time and energy with their staff to build a reputable newspaper operation.

Elmer L. Andersen, Minnesotaís 30th governor and former chief executive officer of H.B. Fuller Company and of ECM Publishers, started his newspaper career in 1976 when he purchased the Princeton Union and Princeton Eagle newspapers. He merged the papers and later formed ECM Publishers. Andersen, whose life ìwas a remarkable story of triumph over adversity,î according to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, died at age 95 last Nov. 15.

Bob Cole, current marketing director for ECM Publishers, has been named general manager of the Morrison County Record. Cole came to Minnesota from Wyoming in 1989 and became marketing director of the St. Croix Valley Peach, Forest Lake Times, Forest Lake and ECM Post Review, North Branch. He was promoted to ECM marketing director in 1994 after ECM acquired the Peach, Times and Post Review in 1993.

Cole is a past president of the MFPA and currently treasurer of the IFPA. He and wife, Patti, reside in Forest Lake.
In addition to printing ECM owned weekly publications, ECM also produces work commercially for a number of high-profile publishers including the Midwest daily edition of The New York Times and The University of Minnesota Daily. Overall, ECM produces a wide variety of publications and freestanding inserts for hundreds of commercial customers, ranging from magazine sized work to tabloid and broadsheet work.

For more information contact ECM President Jeff Athmann at (763) 712-2402 or at jeff.athmann@ecm-inc.com.

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