Forum Communications Co. has purchased this former beverage distribution facility in Duluth, Minn., to house a new Goss newspaper press to be installed there.
DULUTH, Minn. – Forum Communications Co. officials have announced the purchase a new state-of-the-art newspaper press and a new industrial property in which to house the press and become the center of a new production center in Duluth. The facility will serve the Duluth News Tribune and other regional newspapers owned by the company, and other publications.
Company executives said that the Goss newspaper press should be operating in the new production center, located in a former beverage distribution business in the northern part of the city, by late September.
The administrative and newsroom functions of the Duluth News Tribune, however, will remain at its downtown location, said Publisher Ken Browall.
The total cost of the production center project will range between $5 to $7 million, said Forum Communications Co. CEO Lloyd Case, making the project the company’s largest capital investment of the year.
“Every year, Forum Communications invests a certain amount of profits back into the company,” Case said. “We just believe newspapers are here to stay. We’re going to continue to invest in our properties and provide our employees with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. That’s our philosophy.”
Paper loaded on the current press at the Duluth News Tribune in downtown Duluth, Minn.
Company officials said the purchase of the new production center was necessary because the new press can’t be installed in the newspaper’s downtown building and simultaneously keep the current press operating. In addition, the new site is move-in ready and contains the multiple loading docks, large garage doors and the space needed not only for a newspaper production center, but also a distribution center.
The Duluth News Tribune also currently prints the Duluth Budgeteer News, Superior (Wis.) Telegram, Lake County News-Chronicle in Two Harbors, Minn., and Pine Journal in Cloquet, Minn., which also are owned by Forum Communications. It also prints other regional newspapers.
Forum Communications Co. is a multimedia information company based in Fargo, N.D. In addition to the Duluth News Tribune, Forum Communications owns dozens of newspapers, websites and television and radio stations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
