Ryan Harvey, CEO of Mid-America Publishing (on the left) recently finalized Mid-America’s purchase of the Eldora Newspapers from John Butters who has operated the Index and Herald Ledger for the last six years.

Effective Friday, November 7, 2014, the Hardin County Index and Eldora Herald-Ledger will be published under new ownership.

The new owner is Mid-America Publishing Corporation, based in Hampton, who has agreed to purchase the papers from John Butters and the Washington Advertising Company, L.L.C.

 “We are very excited to add the Eldora Herald-Ledger and Hardin County Index to our family of newspapers,” said Ryan Harvey, President and CEO of Mid-America Publishing. “John has done a tremendous job with the papers over the past few years and we look forward to continuing to build upon the tradition that he has established.”

The publications will join a growing group of 19 weekly newspapers owned and operated by Mid America which include locally both the Grundy Register (Grundy Center) and The Record (Conrad). Terms of the purchase have not been released. In addition to The Grundy Register and The Record, other Mid America publications include; The Leader, with newspaper with offices in Garner and Britt; the Kanawha Reporter, the Wright County Monitor, in Clarion and Dows; the Eagle Grove Eagle; the Buffalo Center Tribune, The Pioneer Enterprise (Rockwell-Thornton), The Sheffield Press; The Hampton Chronicle; The Butler County Tribune-Journal (Allison); the Clarksville Star, the Calmar Courier, The Ogden Reporter, and The Graphic-Advocate, with offices in Lake City and Rockwell City. The company additionally owns and operates newspapers in southeast Iowa called The News-Review, in Sigourney, The Keota Eagle, and The Sun with officers in New Sharon and Fremont. The company also produces two weekly political newspapers, the Conservative Chronicle and the Liberal Opinion Week. Additionally  the company prints several TMC shoppers, such as The Hampton Chronicle’s Bonus in Hampton, The Spectrum in Lake City-Rockwell City, The Leader’s Shoppers News Review in Garner, and the Wright County Reminder in Clarion; plus monthly shoppers such as The Dual County Leader in Eagle Grove and the Keokuk County Chief in Sigourney.

“As a publisher of weekly newspapers, we feel the Eldora publications are a natural fit in our company,” Harvey said. “We believe strongly in the tradition of weekly newspapers.”

Clinton Poock, who oversees the Grundy Center, Conrad, Allison, and Clarksville papers, will serve as the regional publisher. Day-to-day operations will be handled by Scott Bierle, along with the rest of the staff in Eldora, have been offered employment by Mid-America.

“We’re more than thrilled to be a part of Eldora and Hardin County,” said Harvey.

Harvey further added that Mid-America’s interest in Eldora is partly because of the good mix of businesses operating there including both new and established industries, and employers who bring people to the community.

“A community newspaper is only as healthy as the community it serves,” Harvey stated. “It is encouraging to see the commitment to commerce in Eldora over the long term.” Matt Grohe Board Chair of Mid-America Publishing further remarked that, “We appreciate Mr. Butter’s working with us to incorporate these publications into our lineup. We are very grateful for his consideration and look forward to serving the citizens and businesses in Eldora and beyond well into the future.”

The newspaper will stay in its current location at 1513 Edgington Ave. and will retain the same mailing address, email addresses and phone number. 

Readers of the newspapers will notice some immediate changes however. The newspaper’s billing and circulation will be handled by the company’s home office staff in Hampton and additional content will appear. The printing of the newspaper will also move to the Hampton facility rather than being printed in Marshalltown and a website and a Facebook page for the newspapers were launched today.