Publisher, Chesapeake Publishing Corporation
Inducted into MDDC’s Hall of Fame in 2007. This article is based on information submitted at the time.
It is my privilege to nominate Tom Bradlee, president and CEO of Chesapeake Publishing Corporation, for the MDDC Hall of Fame.
Tom has been in the publishing business in Maryland and Delaware his entire career, 38 of those with Chesapeake Publishing. Though many others share his passion for community newspapers, few rival his excellence for group-publishing success nor equal his ability for developing a company-wide culture of achievement. His unique style of leadership is easy-going, his decisions are practical, well-conceived and within the boundary of his vision for Chesapeake.
He emphasizes recognition of achievement and that by allowing Chesapeake employees to mix fun with the normal workload, creates a great working environment.
From late 1988 until 2001, Bradlee’s ability to recognize market opportunities and identify promising acquisitions grew Chesapeake Publishing into the 11th largest community newspaper company in the country by the mid-1990s. Starting with doing business in two states, Bradlee’s efforts moved Chesapeake into five states: Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with 66 publications or publishing operations.
Much of this growth can be through acquisition from family run newspapers. While other bidders may have been more aggressive, the sellers, once having met and talked with Tom, were so impressed with his character and demeanor, most often sold to Chesapeake knowing the family business would remain in good hands.
And Bradlee’s keen sense to fill a niche and address growing markets added to Chesapeake’s success. Under his leadership, Chesapeake expanded into adjacent markets near where its stable of well-established and well-entrenched community newspapers were doing business on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and Delaware. Now into his 19th year as Chesapeake President, Bradlee is responsible for three start-up business publications; The Mariner, a boating publication in its 25th year; at least four new weekly newspapers; 16 community newspaper acquisitions; and perhaps a dozen new niche products and operations.
His charge to the company always has been “delight the customer” and “report the news.”
Despite the inevitable swing of financial performance that comes in a span of nearly two decades, Bradlee is stubbornly dedicated to his employees’ recognition and training. In his time, he established annual training conferences for advertising sales, classified sales, circulation, editorial and graphic design. Whether an up year or down, Chesapeake holds its training conferences either in Ocean City or near St. Michael’s, MD where an evening of fun and entertainment is usually sandwiched between a day and a half of training.
“What makes Chesapeake great,” Bradlee always says, “is that we know how to mix some fun around running our business the right way.”
Ad sales and graphic design staffs are recognized annually for their talents in building ads that work for Chesapeake’s customers. There are annual and separate sales contests for all of the company’s retail and classified sales staff. The news rooms are recognized three times each year in news reporting and writing “excellence” contests. It’s all part of Tom’s plan and commitment to regularly recognizing all of Chesapeake’s employee’s contributions and talents.
Today, after a 2001 divestiture of three of its five publishing divisions and two of five printing divisions, Chesapeake is now 22 publications in two publishing divisions with three printing facilities.
Bradlee is a former president of MDDC from 1984-85. His leadership has fostered three MDDC presidents since, Larry Effingham, Jeffrey Mezzatesta and Karen Acton. In all, Chesapeake can claim seven MDDC presidents among it contribution to the press association.
Tom received the Dean Lesher Award in 2003 from Suburban Newspapers Association for his contribution to the community newspaper industry. His activity in newspaper associations was not limited to MDDC as he was president of the National Newspaper Association in the early 1990s and later he was president of SNA.
Bradlee’s career shows him a pioneer. Having started at the Cecil Whig in Elkton, MD as a delivery boy then worked in production and ad sales, Bradlee is a natural at what he does. So clearly does he portray and understand Chesapeake’s mission to readers of its newspapers and it advertising clients, that only a man of unique talents and abilities can design, configure and effectively manage a large and contiguous publishing company setting performance and readership standards along the way.
Jeffrey Mezzatesta
Publisher and Vice President, Cecil Whig