Santa Maria Times celebrates 140 years of service, new local ownership | Chamber Spotlight

Jan. 24—In its nearly 140 years covering the Santa Maria Valley, the Santa Maria Times has chronicled the growth and development of the Central Coast, the size and structure of the cities of northern Santa Barbara County, the evolution of economic engines, and the regional impact and global importance of what is now Vandenberg Space Force Base.

That says nothing of the advancements in the way the paper is created, produced and delivered. But despite the monumental changes, it is a return to an earlier model that could be the most significant change that the Times has seen — a return to locally based ownership.

The leadership team of the Santa Maria Times is excited to share that change with the community. "As a news publication we don't talk about our business regularly and it's exciting to give a little bit of the long-standing contribution that we have made in the community," said Marga Cooley, managing editor for Santa Maria California News Media Inc.

The Santa Maria Times printed its first edition in April of 1882 and was founded and spent much of its history under local ownership. The first publisher of the paper, H. J. Laughlin, was a local businessperson working to inform the public about the city developing around them, and provide a place for local merchants to advertise.

The Times was purchased by the Pulitzer Publishing group in 2001, which was then purchased by Iowa-based Lee Enterprises in 2005. Adding the Pulitzer holdings, including the Times and sister publications the Lompoc Record, Santa Ynez Valley News, Adobe Press, Times Press-Recorder and the Hanford Sentinel, made Lee the fourth-largest newspaper group in the country at the time.

The purchase of the Santa Maria Times news group from Lee Enterprises by Santa Maria California News Media Inc., was announced on March 13, 2020, 11 days after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency because of COVID-19.

The economic strain created by coronavirus closures had a big impact on the economic strength of the Times. In response, the new company leveraged the Times' press, the only large newspaper press left in the region.

"We went from printing 200,000 copies a month to 1.2 million today," said Terri Leifeste, vice president and group publisher. "So we're pretty excited and pretty proud of that."

Local autonomy allowed press manager Paul Colaluca and Leifeste to add contracts with papers large and small over the past two years, so if you're reading a newspaper on the Central Coast or in the Central Valley, there is a good chance that it was printed in Santa Maria.

"On the business side, I think it's really important that we were able to bring in that commercial print business," Leifeste pointed out. "We were able to stabilize financially, you know, because COVID was a huge hit to our business, just like everyone else's."

In an attempt to help local advertisers through the economic uncertainty the Times started a "Match Program," matching the ad spend of local businesses dollar for dollar.

Changes at the Times have not been limited to advertising, the press room or the newsroom. Because of industry issues, gas prices and impending changes to California labor laws, daily delivery was moved in 2021 from carriers to same-day mail.

"I think the change to same-day mail delivery has been received really well by the community. People are getting their papers on a regular basis and there aren't the delivery issues we were experiencing," Managing Editor Cooley said.

The Times has worked over the past decade to ensure that it is providing local news in an ever-expanding digital marketplace, but Leifeste reiterated that digital growth doesn't mean that the paper is going away. "We want to provide our customers with the news, how they want it, when they want it," she said, referring to phone, tablet and print options that are now available to subscribers.

Both Leifeste and Cooley said they are proud to be part of the community, and are energized by the possibilities presented by local autonomy. The Times wants to be a voice for the people of Santa Maria, chronicle local history, and allow readers to be better connected to their hometowns.

"I've been here at the Santa Maria Times for over a decade now and in this position for about 10 years, and I feel that this has been the most rewarding period of my career," Cooley said. "The development of the news team, and that we have been able to effect change and to be a platform for, and a voice for our community is something that means the world to me."

The way that the Santa Maria Times disseminates local stories might have changed since the 1880s, and is guaranteed to change more dramatically in the next 140 years, but the paper's commitment to covering the community has not. And the Santa Maria-based leadership team is thankful for the opportunity to cover local news, Santa Maria-style.

Santa Maria California News Media, Inc.

Santa Maria California News Media Inc. is a media group that includes the Santa Maria Times, Lompoc Record, Santa Ynez Valley News, the Hanford Sentinel and the Selma Enterprise. The group is part of a larger group that manages papers throughout California including the Bakersfield Californian.

This content was produced in partnership with the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce. For more information on the work of the Chamber, go to their website at santamaria.com. Sergio Ruiz contributed to this report.