Anna Maria Island Sun, 9801 Gulf Dr, Ste 4, Anna Maria, FL 34216, US

Formed in 1995 with the acquisition of the Longboat Observer, Observer Group Inc has grown into a family-owned and operated multimedia company with five newspapers, three websites, a quarterly arts and social magazine and more than 80 employees serving multiple communities around Florida. The company's portfolio of newspapers includes three free community weeklies serving the Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla., market - Sarasota Observer, Longboat Observer and East County Observer; Palm Coast Observer, a free weekly serving the east coast market of Palm Coast/Flagler County; and Gulf Coast Business Review, a paid-circulation weekly with subscribers extending from Tampa to Naples. The company's associated websites include YourObserver.com, PalmCoastObserver.com and Review.net. Season magazine is the quarterly arts and social guide. Altogether, the company's newspapers and websites reach more than 200, 000 readers a week. The family operators behind Observer Group are the company's founders and principals, Matt and Lisa Walsh and their daughter, Emily Walsh Parry; and Lisa Walsh's parents, David and Ruth Beliles. With Emily Walsh Parry serving as associate publisher-multimedia, she marks the fourth generation of the family in the newspaper business. David and Ruth Beliles began their newspaper careers in the 1950s in Illinois. Beliles eventually became a vice president of Topeka, Kan.-based Stauffer Communications, overseeing a dozen Midwest dailies and serving as publisher of the Grand Island, Neb., Independent. Beliles' father, Neil Beliles, worked as a newspaper circulation executive in the 1940s and 1950s. Matt and Lisa Walsh began their newspaper careers at the Topeka Capital-Journal after graduating from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. After stints at the Miami Herald, Florida Trend magazine and Forbes magazine, Walsh, his wife, her parents and a small group of investors teamed up to purchase the Longboat Observer from its founders, Ralph and Claire Hunter. The Hunters started the paper in 1978. From the start of the Longboat Observer through today, the Walshes have focused on creating, producing and delivering compelling and relevant hyper-local news and information to the readers of its community newspapers and websites. To that end, the Longboat Observer serves primarily the barrier island of Longboat Key (near Sarasota, Fla.), as well as surrounding barrier islands. It has an average weekly circulation of 15, 000 and more than 30, 000 weekly readers. It reaches more than 95% of the 10, 000 residences on Longboat Key and specializes in news and events affecting Longboat Key as well as providing comprehensive coverage of the region's arts and social scenes. In 1997, the company started The Gulf Coast Business Review, a weekly that focuses on companies, entrepreneurs and business and economic trends on the west coast of Florida; it has paid circulation of 4, 000. In 1998, the company launched the East County Observer to serve the fast-growing suburban areas of east Manatee and Sarasota counties. The East County Observer has weekly distribution of 23, 000 and more than 46, 000 readers. It specializes in community news, events, business, real estate and sports affecting primarily East Manatee County. In 2000, Observer Group introduced "Season, " a quarterly guide to the Sarasota region's arts, entertainment and society. Season provides the area's most comprehensive listing of each quarter's arts, charitable and social events. It has a distribution of 50, 000. In 2001, the company acquired the Tampa Bay Review, a 50-year-old legal weekly. Two years later, the Tampa Bay Review and Gulf Coast Business Review merged and later expanded into Southwest Florida by opening offices in Fort Myers and Naples. In 2004, the company started the Sarasota Observer. It serves downtown Sarasota and the most affluent communities along the bayfront. It has a weekly circulation of 31, 000 and reaches more than 62, 000 readers. I

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