Sweet 16! The Coastal Star is growing up. …
Sixteen years ago — November 2008 — our first edition was delivered to homes and condos in the South County coastal area stretching from Manalapan through Delray Beach.
As other print publications stopped reporting on South Palm Beach, Highland Beach and Boca Raton, we added those municipalities to our coverage area.
That’s right. In the middle of what’s now known as the Great Recession, we started a print-first newspaper and expanded its geographic reach at the same time other publications were going out of business or scaling back. Call us crazy, but we’re still here 16 years later and looking toward the future.
We’ve been through hurricanes, the ups and downs of the real estate market and, most significant, a deadly global health pandemic with far-reaching impacts on the supply chain and the U.S. economy. And yet we persisted with the help of our advertising partners and with assistance of PPP loans and media grants during those dark times.
Today the economy is strong and we’re taking advantage by adding sales staff to help us find and support our business partners in the local market. We are also investing more in our editorial staff to improve quality and dependability.
All of us at this newspaper believe our coastal area is enhanced by having residents informed of local news and information. We are the only publication — digital or print — informing them in this way.
It feels unthinkable to let our commitment to community news fade away as we grow older. But our leadership team is growing gray, and at some point others will join me in deciding it’s the right time to shift into retirement.
We’re not all there yet, but are working to figure out our succession plans to help this sweet-16 teenager make it through the exciting promise of coming years.
One way we’re building this safety net is by partnering with the Florida Press Association to provide a tax-free way for readers to contribute to our present and future. Our hope is that as you are doing your year-end financial planning you will consider a donation. You can do this at https://supportfloridajournalism.com/newspaper/the-coastal-star.
If you don’t care about the tax deduction, you can simply send us a check at our office:
The Coastal Star
5114 N. Ocean Blvd.
Ocean Ridge, FL 33435
As we enter November — the month of Thanksgiving — please say thank you to all of the nonprofits featured in this edition’s Philanthropy Season Preview section. Each of these groups provides essential services to individuals in our community who benefit from their efforts. Please consider making a donation or volunteering.
Since it’s too late to offer this sweet-16 newspaper Taylor Swift tickets for its birthday, please consider a financial contribution. We want to be here covering our communities for another 16 years.
Thank you.
— Mary Kate
Leming, Executive Editor
Comments