East Lansing, Mich., December 13, 2016 – Community Papers of Michigan (CPM) recently conducted their election of Board Officers, and elected Don Rush to serve as president to lead the association for a three-year term. 　The election took place during CPM’s final board meeting of 2016, conducted at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center located on the Michigan State University Campus, East Lansing.

　Rush is the assistant publisher of Sherman Publications, Inc. (S.P.I.) based in Oxford and oversees day-to-day operations at S.P.I.’s office in Clarkston.　 Sherman Publications publishes four community newspapers,　The Clarkston News, The Oxford Leader, The Lake Orion Review　and　The Citizen　in Ortonville; as well as two shoppers,　The Penny Stretcher　and　The Ad-Vertiser, and a 50,000-plus circulation coupon magazine,　The Big Deal. The publishing group serves communities, advertisers and readers within northeastern Oakland County and beyond.　Rush grew up in Clarkston, resides in Goodrich and has two teenaged sons, Shamus and Sean.　

Rush pens a weekly column,　‘Don’t Rush Me’,　which has won awards both in the state and nationally; he has also received awards for feature and editorial writing and photography. He has worked in all aspects of the community paper industry, including spending time as editor for all their newspapers, circulation, dark room work, page design and ad composition, managing a sales department, and working on a five-unit Community Goss press as a “printer’s devil.”

“Mr. James Sherman, Sr. hired me right after I graduated from Central Michigan University, as a reporter. Soon I was promoted to editor of The Leader, then to assistant publisher. Mr. Sherman said of my new title, ‘You are now a publisher. That means getting a quality product out the door, on time and at a profit. How you figure that out is your problem.’ So, I got that going for me.” Rush continued, “It will be an honor to work for the industry. Contrary to popular belief, the print industry is a viable business model. Print publications work at getting local news and advertising to readers. I think my job as president of CPM will be to help publishers get that news out to their communities and help grow their publications. I also want to take some time and get to meet the movers and shakers of our member publications over the next three years.”

CPM Executive Director Jack Guza stated, “Don Rush is an excellent choice to lead our association.　Don has been a Board Member of CPM for the past four years, and is a true believer in the power of print, in particular, community newspapers.　Don is known within the state and the country as a true advocate and cheerleader for our industry.　He gained notoriety during a recent national community paper conference for his former podcast　‘Don’t Rush Me, The Sh-o-o-ow!’, which featured Don providing colorful commentary regarding the value, reach and importance of highly local community publications for readers, advertisers and communities. The podcast was considered a first in our industry.”　

　CPM is the trade association representing 106 community newspapers and shopping guides across Michigan with a combined weekly circulation of over 2.1 million. In addition to providing training and industry information to members, CPM actively sells advertising into their members’ publications, working with individual companies and advertising agencies across the country.

Visit communitypapersofmichigan.com.