As Leader Publications approaches its 28th birthday, it will undergo a change in top management.
Pam LaPlant, the company’s second publisher, will retire June 2, and current assistant publisher Peggy Scott will step into the top role.
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of the Leader from the very beginning,” LaPlant said. “I am confident the spirit of what people call ‘that little paper’ will continue for many more years.”
The Jefferson County Leader started in August 1994 with Patrick Martin as publisher, along with LaPlant as business manager, Glenda O’Tool Potts as advertising manager and Peggy Bess as news editor. Over the past 27 years, the paper grew from a single publication with a staff of six to its current incarnation of four papers, a website and an active social media presence, as well as a staff of more than 20.
Upon Martin’s retirement in 2017, LaPlant was named publisher and Scott moved to assistant publisher.
“We’re going to be building on this great foundation that these four people put together in our community,” Scott said. “They’ve been so active and so supportive, and that’s what I want to build on: service to our community, to our advertisers and to our readers.”
Scott said there are no wholesale changes planned.
“It’s not like we have to reinvent something or fix something,” she said. “It’s solid. I couldn’t ask for a better team. And then, we have all these partners in the community who’ve been supporting us for almost 30 years. It’s an enviable position to be in.”
She said the company’s goals are to use technology to make operations more efficient.
“We’re also looking at ways we can help the community as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and enter our next three decades,” she said. “We have a good combination of experienced staff and new hires. Probably, readers and advertisers won’t notice much change on the surface.”
LaPlant, 65, lives in Festus and has one daughter. Scott, 59, lives in Crystal City with her husband, Rob. They have four children and one grandchild.