Randy Blair - President, B.C. Lower Mainland

Randy Blair became President of the Lower Mainland Division of Black Press Group Ltd., in June of 2006.

He has more than 35 years experience in newspaper publishing and printing and has played a significant leadership role within Black Press, serving as Vice-President, Lower Mainland Division and publisher of the Abbotsford News, Mission Record, Hope Standard and Chilliwack Progress.

Randy has served on the boards of the Abbotsford Community Foundation, The British Columbia Yukon Community Newspaper Association, The Abbotsford Hospice Society, 2004 B.C. Summer Games, the British Columbia Technology Education and Careers Council and The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce. He was also a founding member of the Abbotsford Executive Association.

Mark Warner - President, Vancouver Island

Mark Warner is President of Black Press Group Ltd's Vancouver Island operations.

He has been responsible for all of our 16 Vancouver Island community newspaper publications, four free dailies, websites, specialty publications and two press facilities since moving to Vancouver Island in 2006.

Mark has also worked for Black Press as the publisher of the Morning Star in Vernon, as well as being a regional manager. His career with Black Press has included terms as Publisher in Cranbrook, Barriere and Vanderhoof, learning all aspects of this business from small to large markets.

He got his start in the newspaper business in his early teens with his father Charles, a well-respected photojournalist.

Mark lives in Victoria with his two young daughters.

Bruce McAuliffe - President, B.C. South

Bruce McAuliffe became President of Black Press B.C. South in June, 2008, based in Kelowna.

Bruce was publisher of The Surrey North Delta Leader and Vice-President of Black Press Lower Mainland. He began his newspaper career in 1989 and has been with Black Press for more than 15 of those years.

Bruce is a strong believer in community and in the role and responsibilities of community newspapers. He served eight years on The Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation Board of Directors and two years on the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation Board of Directors.

Bruce lives in Kelowna with Shelley; they have two children.

Lorie Williston - President, B.C. North

Lorie Williston

Her career with Black Press began at the Williams Lake Tribunein the early 1980s, where she started as a part-time data entry clerk.

As the company grew, Lorie took on duties as payroll clerk and assistant controller. In the mid 1990s, she took over the controller position and worked closely with Bob Grainger, President of then Cariboo Press.

In 2001, she was appointed publisher of the Williams Lake Tribune. In 2003, Lorie was promoted to Vice-President of Black Press's Interior divisions. In 2005, with continued acquisitions, the decision was made to split the Interior into two regions, and Lorie accepted her current position as President - B.C. North. In this role, she works closely with divisions from Ashcroft to Prince Rupert.

Lorie is very proud of her hard-working team. She feels the success of Black Press overall is due to the hard work and dedication given by all employees. 

Lorie and her husband Mike live in Williams Lake. They have two sons, and two grandchildren.

Candy Hodson - Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing

Candy Hodson is Senior Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for Black Press B.C. 

She began her media career in 1985 and has been publisher of the Surrey/North Delta Leader and the Burnaby and New Westminster NewsLeader. She has also been a Group Training Manager and director of Regional Sales and Development.

Candy was part of the executive team that launched the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, a merging of two daily newspapers in Hawaii. She currently serves as a board member for the Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association and was previously a director on the board at Douglas College.

Candy planned the inaugural Burnaby Arts and Business Awards, performed player relations duties for the Air Canada Championship PGA Tour event, was on the steering committee for Nite of Hope. She was a recipient of the Attorney General's Award for Community Service.

Candy has a degree in Graphic and Communication Arts as well as a Diploma in Management from Thompson Rivers University. She lives in White Rock with her husband Peter.

Chuck Bennett - Group Publisher, Kootenays

Chuck Bennett became the Group Publisher for Black Press, Kootenay in 2008. Prior to that he was Regional Manager of the West Kootenay group for Black Press from 2007 to 2008.

From 1999-2007, Chuck owned his own community newspaper in the Similkameen Valley.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspapers Association. He is a past president of the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspaper Association.

Chuck lives in Nelson, B.C., with his wife Karen and three children. He is active in the community serving as Chair of Nelson Youth Soccer, President of the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Nelson Rotary Club. 

Mark Walker - Director of Sales & Marketing (Digital)

Mark Walker is Director of Sales & Marketing for Black Press Digital's Canadian operations. Prior to his current role, he was Group Publisher - South Okanagan.

Before moving to the South Okanagan in 2007, Mark was responsible for Black Press’ publications in the East Kootenay region from 2003 through 2006.

Mark began his newspaper career in 1984 at the Highland Echo newspaper, in Vancouver, which he and his family sold in 1994. He continued as President and Publisher of the Highland Echo until 1998.

During that period he worked with the Echo's new ownership group pioneering on-line products and he eventually went on to work with various clients including BC Tel/Telus to develop a range of new media products.

Mark was born in Edmonton and grew up in Alberta. He attended the University of Alberta, and has completed Executive Management Certificate/Diploma programs at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops.

Mark lives in Penticton with his wife Roberta and has two adult sons.

Frank Klassen - Chief Information Officer

Frank S. Klassen is the Chief Information/Technology Officer for Black Press. Under his leadership, the Technology Division develops, implements and manages all technological strategies, tools and services within our company.

As CIO/CTO, Frank heads a team of technicians and programmers that keeps our 150 community media centres running smoothly. He brings a wealth of media, technology and management experience to his position.

Prior to joining Black Press in 2008, Frank worked in a variety of editorial, sales and creative roles with MetroValley Newspapers, Lower Mainland Publishing and CanWest. He also operated a successful online marketing business, participated in eight newspaper startups, managed Western Canadian accounts at Apple and was the publisher of the award-winning Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News.

Frank has been involved with community media since 1975. He lives in Maple Ridge with his wife Karen. They have two adult children.

Gus Tonnellier - Director of Press Operations

Gus Tonnellier is the Director of Press Operations for Black Press B.C. Gus oversees an operation that prints 22 individual newspapers and four million inserts every month.

His press serves communities such as New Denver, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Kamloops, Merritt, Clearwater, Invermere, Kelowna, Lumby, Nakusp, Barriere and Lake Country. It runs 24/7 from Sunday night to Saturday night.

Gus also oversees press markets in Alberta for Calgary and Edmonton.

Gus started with Black Press at the Vernon press plant in 1991. He also worked for Black Press in Hawaii from 2005 to 2010, where he was Vice President of Production at the press plant on Oahu.

Gus lives in Vernon with his wife, Kim. He has two children and four grandchildren.

Robin Clarke - Director of Human Resources

Robin Clarke is Director of Human Resources for the Canadian Division of Black Press, responsible for providing leadership, through partnership with our management teams, for the successful organizational management of our Canadian workforce.

Robin began her career with a Black Press predecessor company, MetroValley News Group as an accounting clerk in 1984, and held the position of Corporate Accountant and Manager of Compensation and Benefits before taking on her current role as Director of Human Resources.

Robin lives in Mission with her husband Rick and they have two adult children in university.