Lori Maxim, vice president of Sound Publishing and publisher of the company’s newspapers in Kitsap County, is leaving the company to become director of revenue for Morris Multimedia.
Maxim will be based in Gainesville, Georgia.
Maxim made the announcement to Sound employees on Feb. 22. Her last day with Sound Publishing will be March 18. She will join Morris on April 4, but will make regular visits home to Poulsbo.
Maxim will leave her positions as president of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and member of the board of the Olympic College Foundation. She has been with Sound Publishing for 28 years.
As director of revenue, Maxim will lead print and online marketing and sales for Morris, which publishes daily newspapers, non-daily newspapers, arts and entertainment publications, and shoppers in several states.
“While I am thrilled at this new career opportunity and exciting adventure of seeing a different part of the country, I am very sad to leave my family, staff, friends and business associates behind,” Maxim said. “We plan to maintain our residence in Poulsbo and my husband Glen and son Sean will remain in the area. I will be making regular trips home to visit family.”
When Maxim joined Sound Publishing, the company had three newspapers on Whidbey Island. Today, the company has 49 publications in Washington, among them the (Everett) Daily Herald, the Peninsula Daily News and the (Aberdeen) Daily World. Sound Publishing is the largest community media organization in Washington with a combined print circulation of 661,072 and 2.3 million unique visitors online. Sound employs more than 600 people in 36 locations around the Puget Sound region and eastern Washington.
During her tenure with Sound, she created the national sales team; helped launch the Bremerton Patriot and the Federal Way Mirror; helped facilitate the acquisition of the Kingston Community News; and negotiated the contracts to publish Crosswind, Trident Tides and Northwest Navigator for the military.
She said highlights of her career include “being involved with and helping small businesses grow and prosper,” launching the shop-local “Buy it Right in Kitsap” campaign, and her relationships with people here.
“So many wonderful people have touched my life over the past 28 years in Kitsap County,” she said. “I will always cherish and remember those friendships. I owe this community heartfelt thanks for supporting and encouraging me. This community has a special place in my heart.”
Maxim, a native of Bellevue, earned a bachelor’s degree in business/marketing at Seattle University and completed additional management and leadership studies at Fraser Valley College, The Learning Institute, and Thompson Rivers University.
She was advertising manager from 1986-88 of Metro Valley Newspaper Group in Abbotsford, B.C., then joined Sound as publisher of the Bainbridge Island Review and the North Kitsap Herald. She served as regional publisher and director of national sales and advertising until 2000, when she became vice president of Sound Publishing.
Of the company’s growth, she said, “Our publications — print and online — are influential in their communities and we enjoy strong relationships with our readers and our business communities. We’re pretty solid.”
In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, fishing, camping, and kayaking, and has competed in triathlons.
“Lori is a good friend and has been such an integral part of Sound Publishing it’s quite hard to see her go,” Sound Publishing President Gloria Fletcher said. “Her passionate leadership and positive attitude will be sorely missed. To say her proverbial shoes will be hard to fill is a gross understatement but yet she has built a tremendous team of professionals in Kitsap County who will continue to build and serve their readers quite well.”