I’ve said it before, but I never imagined I’d have a newspaper. What an interesting thing for a self-professed tech-nerd to get involved in. It’s an anachronism in some ways, but there’s something intangible that provides value and drives engagement in the people who read it. Maybe it’s the fact that it is tangible — something that you can physically hold in a world that is increasingly focused on the online and virtual world. That’s the part I love — I feel like what we do has impact, purpose, meaning and value.

I love connecting with our community. My wife, Jenny, and I brought our family here as an investment opportunity. We had no idea we’d be pulled into such an amazing network of friends and neighbors. The fact that we’re able to help tell the story of this community as it is built is incredibly rewarding. We plan on spending a very long time here and we want to do our best to help make it the most outstanding community anyone has ever seen.

I love helping to drive awareness for local charities. Stories about charities in need of help, announcing their upcoming events, and covering notable charity groups in the area are some of my very favorite things that we bring to our audience. Lake Nona has proven to be a very engaged, conscientious, and giving community. We do all we can to help spread the word when help is needed and to acknowledge when it has been given.

I love helping local businesses. Whether it’s something as simple as running print ads that help residents discover local businesses, or telling the story of business owners in a business spotlight, I love connecting our audience to the great local businesses we have. I am looking forward to Small Business Saturday this year, where we hope to provide another great event and an opportunity to connect residents with great local small businesses. It’ll be the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Save that date!

I love our staff. There’s something about the journalism field that draws people who truly want to be in that environment. Some people want to grow up to be astronauts, firefighters, or police. Others want to grow up and be journalists. We’ve been incredibly lucky to attract some amazing, passionate, talented people. From people who are still in school for journalism to people who have worked on major newspapers, we’ve got an amazing (and growing) crew. We’re small enough that it feels like a family and the pride in their work really shows.

I love the potential. When we took over Nonahood News more than a year ago, I had so many great ideas to grow and expand our content and reach. How ambitious (and naive) I was! The realities of running a print publication were lurking there to give me a sobering dose of reality. With the help of our team, though, we’re poised to begin the next big push. We’ll be moving beyond print media and producing even more valuable content to tell the stories that happen here to our audience and beyond. Over the last year, we’ve been adding all of the ingredients we need, one at a time. We’re on the brink of something great, and I can’t wait to see what our team can produce.