TROY — AIM Media Midwest, LLC (“AIM” or the “Company”) has announced the retirement of Thomas E. “Tom” Hutson effective Sept. 27 from his current position as regional vice president anf goup publisher with responsibility for a group of AIM media properties in western Ohio. In conjunction with this retirement, the company also announced the appointment of Ronald A. “Ron” Clausen as his successor. The announcement was made jointly by Jeremy L. Halbreich, chairman and CEO, and by Rick Starks, president and COO.
“Tom Hutson is the consummate newspaper publishing professional,” Halbreich said. “He has had a highly successful and always interesting 43-year career in our industry during which he has demonstrated his steady and unflinching commitment to the highest standards of local community journalism, the health and welfare of the various local communities in which he served, and to his fellow employees and associates. While we have had the pleasure of working directly with Tom for only the past two plus years, he has been a source of great strength and inspired leadership for all of us.”
Hutson spent the first almost 20 years of his career in circulation management beginning in Tallahassee, Florida, with subsequent assignments in Bellevue, Ohio, Coshocton, Ohio, Whittier, Calif., Massillon, Ohio, Royal Oak, Michigan, Kingston, New York, and Terre Haute, Indiana, prior to being named general manager and editor in Macomb, Illinois. From 1997-2008, Hutson was owner, editor and publisher at Eagle Publications of Western Illinois based in Macomb. After selling this group of weekly and bi-weekly publications, he served as publisher in Pontiac, Illinois, before moving to Oberlin, Ohio to work for Brown Publishing, Civitas Media and most recently AIM with responsibility for various publications in western and north central Ohio, including The Register-Herald.
“Tom will be missed by all his associates here at AIM for his extensive experience, deep industry knowledge and exemplary, strong people skills,” Starks said. “While we know he will remain active in a variety of pursuits, we wish him well and all good health and happiness in his retirement.”
Clausen joins the company after serving most recently as director of advertising in Youngstown, Ohio over the past 18 months. His career began in El Paso, Texas, where he worked for over 17 years in a variety of roles including circulation district manager, retail advertising sales rep, national co-op manager and retail division sales manager. He then became retail advertising manager in Lafayette, Ind., advertising director in Chillicothe, Ohio, advertising director and then publisher in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, advertising sales manager in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and finally group publisher in Mount Airy, North Carolina, prior to his work in Youngstown.
“Rick Starks and I had the great good fortune to become acquainted with Ron during his work in Youngstown and we were immediately impressed with his industry knowledge, breadth of experience across digital and print platforms, strong people skills, and deep understanding and appreciation of the important role played by local community newspapers,” Halbreich said. “He will be a great addition to our management team in Ohio.”
Clausen grew up in El Paso, received a presidential appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, and completed a business degree plan at UT-El Paso.
“Tom and Ron will be working closely together over the next couple of weeks on a variety of transition issues and we look forward to a smooth and easy introduction for Ron across AIM Media Midwest,” Starks said.
Clausen will be responsible for the daily newspapers in Sidney, Greenville, and the Miami Valley Today and Miami Valley Sunday News, serving Piqua, Troy and adjoining communities; weekly and two times-weekly newspapers in Eaton, Greenville and Brookville; special publications, all affiliated websites and digital assets; and the implementation of DigitalAIM, a digital marketing services agency, across these markets.
