JERRY SIMPKINS

** ******* **** ***** *******, VT 05701 (802) 776-

**** acdec6@r.postjobfree.com

C.O.O. - DIRECTOR - OPERATIONS & PRODUCTION -

VP SALES & MARKETING

Publications / Manufacturing /Logistics / Budgeting / Expense Control /

Multi-Site Management Forecasting /

Compliance / Union & Non-Union / Web / Process Improvement / Sales &

Marketing / P & L Management

Managed multiple departments and directed operations, production and

logistics for small, billion-dollar and multi-site media organizations.

Streamlined procedures, established zero-based budgets and improved

manufacturing processes. Increased efficiencies, decreased waste,

reduced costs and directly impacted profitability. Managed facility

compliance, vendor relations and risk management. Built solid teams and

delivered projects ahead of deadline and under budget.

Energetic and visionary leader who builds cross-functional teams, and

drives process enhancement. Skilled in motivating teams to accomplish

company objectives. Effectively balances employee, corporate and

customer needs to achieve goals. Proven record in reducing costs

through productivity improvements. Forged strong relationships with

customers, vendors and internal teams. Highly effective as liaison to

regulatory agencies.

Key Skills: Diplomatic, decisive team leader, easily motivates, mentors

and inspires staffs. Meets demanding objectives in highly-competitive

markets, performs against tight deadlines. Highly-organized, precise,

conceptual thinker. Logical, intuitive decision maker and verbally

persuasive. Communicates effectively with people at all levels.

Electronic / Digital Skills: Strong electronic and analytical skills.

In-depth understanding of the principals of web development, web sales

and electronic marketing. Proficient in Excel, Microsoft Office Suite,

CTP operations and various other software packages. Familiar with

Brainwork's, Vision, CIP3, Asura, Terra and Database management.

CAREER HISTORY AND HIGHLIGHTS

Greatly reduced obsolete materials, decreasing costs and saving $20M in

expenses

Impacted profitability 200%, driving $5M in kept expenses, and also

reducing waste substantially

Decreased "unuseable products", saving $1M and reduced overrun

newsprint, saving $100K

Increased "thru-put" 1000%, reduced workforce 50%, material expenses

40%, waste 75%

Increased commercial sales revenues 300% while also tripling OCF

Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Vermont Media Group, July 2013 to

March 2014. Spearheading all sales & marketing for the nation's oldest

continuously family-owned newspaper published under the same name in

the same city, since 1794. Steered advertising, circulation and niche

product sales programs, developed sales staff and realigned operation.

The Rutland Herald is the paper of record for south/central Vermont,

with advertising, reporting and distribution in Rutland, Windsor,

Windham and Bennington Counties. Also responsible for driving revenue

of sister paper, the Barre-Montpeilier Times Argus, located in Barre,

VT.

Group Operations Director, Texas Community Newspapers, LLC, March 2010

to June 2013. Directing overall operations for multi-publication daily

newspapers (2) and community newspapers (12) with stand-alone full-

service commercial printing operation. Operations / production,

scheduling, facility management, commercial operations, sales force,

revenue generation, customer services, overall P&L responsibility,

capital management and R.O.I. projection / follow-up.

Chief Operating Officer, Nastar Incorporated, April 2009 to April 2010.

Directed overall operations of national adhesive coating facility and

paper slitting organization; overseeing management of operations

supervisors encompassing all general management, operational functions,

production scheduling, facility management, and financial / P & L

responsibilities. Primary function to provide operational discipline to

position and structure the company for continued growth.

Director of Group Operations, Capital Newspapers (Wisconsin State

Journal, Capital Times), 1998 to April 2009. Managed 150 staff / $35M

budget for billion-dollar publishing group, overseeing two daily

publications. Led facilities operations and oversaw direction of

production for multi-sites, encompassing all general management duties.

Managed supply-chain, purchasing, scheduling, distribution and sales

and designed strategic planning matrix.

Production Director, Los Angeles Daily News, Managed $34M budget and

250 staff, including all operations management. Oversaw all production

and operations related to large Metro-area daily paper's 220,000

circulation, 130,000 circulation of sister paper, and numerous special

editions. Managed complete operations for off-site production facility,

all duties involved with front-end operations, capital purchases and

implementation, budgeting, plus ROI calculations / financials.

Director of Group Production Operations, New England Newspapers, Inc.

Coordinated and directed operations for four daily publications and

associated weekly's. Provided guidance and direction to each site on

most effective procedures. Troubleshot issues with staff and equipment

at regional sites. Managed press scheduling and commercial operations

of three operations, and all financial / budgetary duties.

Production / Operations Director, New Haven Register; Group Operations

Director, Polk County Publishing Group: Commercial Printing Director,

Ad Graphics; Operations Director, Newspapers of New England.

EXTRACURRICULAR / PERSONAL / EDUCATIONAL

University of Phoenix - Degree in Healthcare Administration - Graduated

in 2010 / 3.95 GPA

Columbia-Greene Community College - Studies in Business Administration

Winner of 2001 Lee President's Award for Innovation. Multiple service

Awards for outstanding service with Lee Enterprises.

Certificates in P.C. Hardware and Electronics Repair from Rockford

College

Member of the Newspaper Association of America and Wisconsin Newspaper

Association, SNA.

Nationally registered Advanced EMT currently pursuing degreed paramedic

status. (Volunteer)

Madison Area Technical College: Emergency Medical Services - Graduated

as EMT with 4.0 GPA - Intermediate EMT-I 4.0 GPA Nationally registered

and practicing Advanced EMT / Licensed in WI, TX & VT. Regional

Chairman of Emergency Medical Services Board. Active on several

community safety committees.

References proudly presented on request.

Please review accomplishments below.

BRIEF NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Vermont Media Group

> Realigned accounts. Realigned all current accounts to more

evenly spread across sales staff, improving call volume,

increasing new business, and improving service to customers.

> Reviewed / restructured Trade Agreements. Aligned all trade

agreements to benefit the organization. Developed new

agreements, discussed with clients and organized/finalized.

> Developed new incentives to increase salesperson participation.

Established in-house challenges, reward programs and bonuses

tied to specific sales increasing sales efforts and related

revenues.

> Implemented Call Reports. Put into place required daily call

reports to track progress of specific accounts, developing new

approaches for hard-to-sell clients. Reports also contained

following day "plan of attack" allowing sales staff to look

ahead, form a plan, and develop the process with management to

implement the plan.

> Established Guaranteed Performance Levels (GPLs). Established

minimum performance levels for sales to reach before commission

is paid, thereby raising the bar for staff. Once these levels

are met the new commission plan (also developed in tandem)

rewarded staff for their accomplishments, while meeting company

goals.

> Developed program for digital upsells. Developed program tying

print sales to digital through an upsell based on pci to page

views, increasing digital sales, impressions and revenue.

> Community Special Section. Introduced special section related

to new business which produced $14,000. in new/found revenue in

the first publication.

Group Operations Director, Texas Community Newspapers, LLC

> Introduced measures to track commercial profit and loss on all

products. Developed cradle to grave process that electronically

tracked performance in each area of the commercial operation,

tracking productivity, waste, raw material usage, and all costs

within the job. Weighed costs against revenue per job to

determine margin and productivity.

> Established zero based budgeting to improve efficiencies.

Redesigned all budget models building from the ground up,

budgeting for specific/actual usage and breaking up overall

operational budget into individual departments allowing more

efficient tracking of expenses.

> Reduced waste. Greatly reduced offset waste from highs of 30%+

to under 4%, netting a return of nearly a quarter-million

dollars annually. Worked with crews on start-up procedures,

fine-tuning equipment, pre-press processes and staff focus.

> Achieved on-time performance. Improved deadline performance

from 20% on time to 98%+. Realigned staffing, worked with

managers, tracked progress and reacted to data, increased

equipment maintenance and reliability, saving over $200k in

personnel costs annually and eliminating excessive overtime

hours.

Chief Operating Officer, Nastar Incorporated

> Established daily production quotas and operational goals.

Established and continuously monitored manufacturing policies

and practices, capacity planning, manpower scheduling, safety,

and performance levels to increase daily output. Increased

daily output by 20% while reducing errors and subsequent

customer credits.

> Introduced new warehouse processes to better track product.

Worked with production personnel to redesign warehouse to

improve efficiency, reduce labor needs, and insure on-time

delivery to customers.

Director of Group Operations, Capital Newspapers

> Greatly reduced obsolete materials, reducing costs and saving

$20M in expenses. Assigned to reduce paper and ink expenses.

Invested in equipment and developed processes to facilitate

page-size reduction using less newsprint. Designed new

templates and reprogrammed set-up. Decreased paper costs 16%

total. Collaborated with associates for group purchasing on

bulk ink. Purchased and installed 1,000 gallon tanks, reducing

cost of consumables 15%.

> Impacted profitability 200%, driving $5M in kept expenses,

reducing waste 75%. Led consolidation of three publications

into single facility. Reorganized printing and staffing

schedules and created media electronic-transmission process.

Incorporated new product into workflow with minimal expense and

no additional equipment. Eliminated 21 staff, cut significant

costs and increased quality while improving customer

satisfaction.

> Decreased "unusable product", saving $1M and reduced overrun

newsprint, saving $100K, annually. New equipment required paper

inventory to remove width, otherwise the company was stuck with

unusable material. Designed/developed trimming system and

completed with no downtime. Avoided outsourcing potentially

expensive project and completed on-site. Controlled / monitored

waste and conducted post-press evaluations, reducing overrun

product.

> Increased "thru-put" 1000% and reduced workforce 50%, material

expenses 40%, waste 75%. Saw opportunity to develop more

efficient system for press-plate production. Implemented new

technology for high-speed production to multiple presses. Led

flawless installation of new major equipment. Eliminated film

use, chemicals and labor costs, lowered press waste and greatly

improved customer satisfaction.

Production Director, Los Angeles Daily News

> Incorporated multiple daily print products under one roof,

improving efficiencies, reducing overall labor expense, and

improving deadline performance for all products. Transferred

printing of newly acquired 130,000 circulation daily, with all

special sections, to central print facility without increasing

labor expense. Closed existing print facility and moved

existing equipment to new site within the group.

Commercial Printing Director, Polk County Publishing Group

> Increased commercial sales revenues 300% for Polk County

Publishing, tripling OCF. Developed Sales Commission Plans,

rewarding commercial sales staff for efforts to increase

overall revenue. Added commission for new business to existing

base salary for outside sales reps. Established new business

percentage as well as ongoing sales rewards for growing

customer base. "Took away" several sizeable accounts from

competitors.

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