She’s home!

By Carolyn Reid
    For the past seven years, Neil Belcher has been known and respected around Pendleton County as the publisher of the Falmouth Outlook, working for Delphos Herald, Inc., the paper’s owner that is located in Delphos, Ohio.
    As of January 1, 2022, that role expanded to include “owner” when Delphos sold the Outlook and he and his wife, Marilyn, completed the lengthy process of acquiring the long-standing publication, making it their own.
    Purchasing the paper was not exactly what he expected to do when he arrived on the scene in 2014, but even more surprising to him was the fact that he ended up in Falmouth as the publisher of the Falmouth Outlook in the first place.
    He tells the story he loves to recall with a chuckle.
    “So in 2011, I left the newspaper business,” he remembers, “with the idea that I wanted to try something different.”
    That “something different” was selling insurance, something that he admits quickly grew old.
    He was not the only one who realized he was less than content. His wife of (now) 41 years saw that the “something different” was not making her husband happy, and so when she saw  Delphos’s advertisement, she made a bold move.
    “Marilyn, realizing I was unhappy, sent my resume in, applying for the publisher’s position.”
    Apparently, Marilyn is good at keeping secrets because Neil had no idea any of this had happened until...
    “I was literally driving down the road when I received a phone call from Roberta Cohen to set up a phone interview for the Outlook publisher’s job...which I wasn’t aware I had applied for.”
    He then understood he had the support of his wife, and when he was hired, they packed up their belongings and moved from the home where they and their three children grew up--Conneaut, Ohio--to Falmouth, Kentucky, to take over the role of publisher.        The move took place in 2014, upon Debbie Dennie’s retirement. At that point, Delphos had owned the Falmouth Outlook for nearly 30 years, having bought the paper from Warren Shonert in 1985, and Dennie had been in the role of publisher for the majority of that time.
    When the Belchers arrived on the scene, not only did they find a new position, according to Neil, they found a new home. That fact has caused them to connect to the area not only through the paper, but also through community organizations. Neil is active in the Chamber of Commerce, for example, while Marilyn works as a dispatcher for Pendleton County.
    And they both have understood since they came that the newspaper has an important role in the community. “Being the newspaper of record for Pendleton County is a responsibility that we don’t take lightly,” Neil shares.
    They successfully transmitted that responsibility to Delphos because when Roberta Cohen, the owner and acting president of Delphos Herald, Inc, told Neil they would like to sell the Outlook, she also told him they preferred local ownership, and she would like him to help them find a local buyer. That was when he went to Marilyn.
    “Marilyn and I discussed the idea over the weekend, and we realized the opportunity in front of us, so DHI (Delphos) and I have been working towards making this happen ever since.”
    The title of “owner” appears to be the crowning glory of a career that has seen him move through community journalism, most of it on the business side.
    Neil, according to his biography, began his career at around 21 years of age at the Conneaut News-Herald as the circulation manager; soon, he was the sales rep, and then the advertising manager for his hometown paper. When he left that position after 12 years at the Herald, he still stayed close to home as he accepted an advertising manager position at Brown-Thompson Newspapers; there, he “directed the sales efforts at five newspapers in five separate small communities for five years.” He later accepted the advertising director position at The Good-News in Middlefield, Ohio, where he was promoted to business manager and then general manager.
    His career-long work with community newspapers gives him a great understanding of their role in the community.
    “Across the state and across the country, small local newspapers have been acquired by larger newspaper chains,” he reflects. “Being the newspaper of record for Pendleton County is a responsibility we don’t take lightly. Community journalism is so important to a small community such as ours. Hopefully, our independent local ownership will allow us to be nimble enough to adapt to whatever challenges we encounter. With 40 years of newspaper experience to draw from, I feel my entire career has prepared me for this moment. Marilyn and I are passionate about doing our best to provide the news and information to our readers, as well as results for our advertisers.”
    He also realizes that his team has to buy into that same commitment, and he has positive comments about the team he has formed since he arrived on the scene.
    “Over the past several years, we had evolved the Outlook, winning well over 100 Kentucky Press Association awards, and developed a dedicated, hard-working staff. With the uncertainty of possible new ownership and management, I hated to risk the idea of undoing that progress. We have a good thing going, and we want to keep it going.”
    He is realistic about challenges, too, but he remembers we have faced challenges over the past two years, and how those challenges have played out to make the paper better.
    “As a business, we had tightened up a bit during Covid, and that has positioned us to be successful moving forward.”
    He nods to Delphos, too, for the support during the time the Ohio company has owned the Outlook.
    “The  Delphos Herald, Inc, and the Cohen family have maintained a strong commitment to Pendleton County the past 35 years. I am so appreciative of my seven years in the company, working with some of the best and brightest minds in the industry. We are proud to continue their legacy.”    
    The Cohens are not the only Ohioans who have maintained the commitment to Pendleton County. When the Belchers are reminded they are in a “foreign land,” a place some six hours from where they have spent the majority of their lives, they both counter with words that have already been demonstrated by their services to the community in seven short years.
    “When we made the move to Falmouth seven years ago,” Marilyn says, “I immediately fell in love with the city. It reminded me so much of my hometown. I felt at home immediately.”

"We are only a six  hour drive from our hometown, Neil echoes, “so we are able to visit fairly frequently.”
    That family consists of a son, a daughter and son-in-law, and two grandchildren who still live in the area of their hometown, along with a daughter and son-in-law who currently reside in Arizona.
    “But Marilyn and I love it here in Pendleton County.”
    He then adds a practical twist, bringing out his ever-present sense of humor.
    This is home, and with much, much less snow than we grew up with!”
    But Marilyn demonstrates how deeply committed she is to her husband’s profession, not only through the way she took that bold step seven years ago when she saw his dissatisfaction in his job outside of journalism, but also in the partnership mind-set she demonstrates as she speaks of their new venture.
    “Neil and I look forward to serving our community, our county, and its surrounding area. We are excited to continue providing community journalism to our readers.”