KPV to acquire The Harvey County Independent, Hesston Record

By Newton Now Staff

Kansas Publishing Ventures (KPV), the parent company of Newton Now, has entered into an agreement to purchase The Hesston Record, Harvey County Independent and The Ledger newspapers from Robb and Martha Reeves of Hesston.

The sale becomes official Sept. 1.

“This keeps happening to us,” Majority Owner of KPV Joey Young said. “We weren’t necessarily looking to acquire any more papers, but these deals found us and we are excited about the opportunity to expand our reach in the region.”

KPV currently owns and runs Newton Now, Hillsboro Free Press, The Herington Times, and The Clarion in Andale.

“It makes a lot of sense for our newspapers to be under one owner. There is a nice opportunity to share news and advertising that makes all the publications involved stronger,” Robb Reeves said of the change in ownership. “Joey and Bruce, who are former Reeves Media employees, operate their newspapers much the way we do in that local news and tremendous relationships with our customers are very important. Joey and Bruce are friends and will do a great job. They were who we wished to sell to.”

Young said he was honored that Reeves would choose Kansas Publishing Ventures to trust the strong tradition of local journalism shown by Reeves’ publications.

Managing Editor Adam Strunk said the move’s going to mean better coverage for papers throughout Harvey County.
“Our Newton and North Newton readers care about what’s going on throughout the county they live in and I think county residents care about what’s going on in their county seat,” he said. “This purchase means we now have local reporters throughout Harvey County and in turn, the Independent and the Record have local reporters stationed in Newton.”

Strunk noted that Newton Now and Reeves Media have already been sharing stories and resources throughout the last three years.
“That’s only going to improve, now,” he said.

The purchase isn’t the only growth that’s taken place for KPV.

KPV recently acquired the McPherson News from Anne Heidel, who launched that paper about three years ago.

Heidel, owner of the McPherson News, will stay on as the managing editor of the paper and become an employee of KPV. All of Reeves’ employees will be offered a job to stay on with KPV when the sale is final.

“We are excited to work with Anne and all of Robb’s people and make them members of our family,” Young said. “I worked with several of Robb’s employees when I was employed by him nearly 10 years ago. I am excited to bring things full circle for me and work with several of them, again.”

Reeves gave Young his first job in journalism as a reporter at the Harvey County Independent. Young worked for Reeves for over two years, also working as editor of The Clarion, a paper Young later purchased at the age of 27.

Young’s business partner, Bruce Behymer is a native of Sedgwick in Harvey County and said he was excited about being partial owner of his hometown paper—The Harvey County Independent.

KPV is committed to continuing the legacy of good journalism throughout Harvey and McPherson Counties and maintaining good relationships with customers throughout.

“Martha and I have been blessed with many great employees over the years at our company and we certainly thank them and all of our customers for their support the last 12 years,” Reeves said.

Bringing the McPherson News, Hesston Record, Harvey County Independent, The Ledger in Moundridge and the rest of KPV all together under one roof makes a ton of sense for everyone, according to Young, who said the company and all of the properties instantly become stronger, due to the merger.

The Reeves will remain residents of Harvey County. They will be in Texas at times as part owners of MVR Publishing based in Houston, Texas, which is in the process of acquiring Greensheet Media. The Greensheet is a targeted advertising publication that distributes more than 500,000 copies in Houston and Dallas through 19 separate zones, each week. In addition, TheGreensheet.com garners more than 1 million-page views, monthly.

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