Mike DeNardo has been providing consulting services to major companies throughout the United States and Canada for over 30 years. In addition to newspapers, clients have come from industries such as mining, electronics, and paper products, as well as distribution, manufacturing, and computing. For the past twenty years he has played a key role in services to the newspaper industry in particular, having directed assignments for more than 60 papers that cover that gamut in size and value. These assignments include projects in Advertising, Production, Circulation, and Administration.
DeNardo’s dedication and passion have helped his clients achieve hundreds of millions of dollars in bottom-line improvement and reach new levels of service and quality.
DeNardo has a degree in Business Management from John Carroll University. He has spoken at both the NAA and SNPA conventions, as well as to international groups on programs to improve productivity and financial performance. He resides in Southern California.
Rich Cunningham has over 35 years of experience in methods/systems analysis, systems management, sales & marketing, and consulting with over 25 of those years in the newspaper industry. Rich has held responsible positions with Honeywell, Questor and the Arizona Republic prior to consulting. Consulting assignments have included The Florida Times Union, St. Augustine Record, Savannah Morning News, Grand Rapids Press, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Times-Shamrock Corporation.
Gene Walls has experience as a newspaper executive, as well as a consultant to commercial printing and newspaper operations. Gene served as operations director for the Charleston Post & Courier, leading the restructuring of production operations. Commercial printing engagements included several international assignments. Gene has over 20 years consulting experience with numerous clients. After graduating from Central Missouri State University, Gene began his career with General Motors, starting as a production supervisor, then as a labor relations staffer, leading to plant superintendent.
Newspaper clients include Houston Chronicle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Fayetteville Observer, GateHouse Media, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Times-Shamrock, Savannah Morning News and Florida Times-Union. Gene resides in South Carolina.
Larry Barretthas experience as a management consultant, industrial engineer, and manager. For Mazda Motor of America, he managed the national parts distribution center, responsible for distribution to dealers in all 50 states, as well as a $23 million inventory and $70 million in annual sales. His consulting experience is broad, with industries ranging from newspapers, to food processing to high technology firms. With newspapers, he has completed successful assignments at the Houston Chronicle, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Akron Beacon Journal, Cedar Rapids Gazette, 21st Century Newspapers, and Los Angeles Times. Barrett holds a bachelors degree and conducted graduate studies at California State University, Long Beach and resides in western Kentucky.
Rich Coxhas served in top executive positions at the San Francisco Chronicle and Arizona Republic. He started as a district manager in home delivery at the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. After several promotions, Rich took a position as Single Copy Manager at the Arizona Republic, rising to Circulation VP, and into general management as a Senior Vice President with responsibility over circulation, production, facilities and IT. Rich accepted a similar position at the San Francisco Chronicle. Since joining DeNardo Consulting Group, Rich has spearheaded initiatives with GateHouse media, Grand Rapids Press, Birmingham News and the Savannah Morning news. He resides near Phoenix, Arizona.
Bill Diggins has over 30 years of experience in consulting and executive management, including extensive international experience in South America, Europe, and Asia. As International Manager with the Alexander Proudfoot Company, Bill managed 120 consultants across dozens of projects. He was also Senior Vice President of ACTV, a pioneering company in interactive television and online media. Bill's experience in the newspaper industry began in 1987, working for Mike DeNardo. He completed numerous projects in virtually all areas of the business for clientsthat included the Los Angeles Times, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Sun Times, GateHouse Media New England, Times-Shamrock, Harrisburg Patriot-News, Times of Trenton, and the Sacramento Bee. Bill graduated from Michigan State University and completed extensive graduate work at the Universities of London and Pittsburgh. He currently resides in Connecticut.
William Diggins IIWill has worked for The DeNardo Consulting Group for 4 years as a management consultant. He has expertise in Circulation, Production, and Transportation as well as a strong analytical background. Over the last 4 years, he has managed performance enhancement projects for newspapers such as The Sarasota Herald Tribune and the Florida Times Union. Collectively, he has helped to anylize and improved over 30 newspapers and ensured that our clients attained several million dollars in savings.
Over the past 25 years, Juli Metzger has been a journalist, publisher, CEO, coach, trainer and mentor. She’s been a consultant to numerous companies looking for a deep dive into their portfolios and business strategies. She’s a motivational leader who knows how to leverage multimedia communications, focus on community engagement and customer results. She’s launched custom publications such as magazines, newspapers and specialty websites.
Juli has a unique blend of specialties and expertise. She started her career as a news reporter then went onto lead prize-winning newsrooms from small- and mid-sized dailies to metro operations including The Indianapolis Star. She’s also seen the business side of the media business as president and publisher of three different newspapers and understands the balance of editorial independence and ROI. As a consultant, she’s worked one-on-one with Executive Editors, Advertising VPs and Publishers on improving editorial quality, as well as profitability.
David Stoefflerhas more than 35 years experience as a top executive, editor and reporter with two major news organizations -- Gannett and Lee Enterprises. He most recently served four years (2010-2014) as executive editor of the Gannett daily in Springfield, Missouri. Prior to that, he worked 30 years for Lee. His last role was as general manager of the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, but he previously served as the first vice president for news of Lee, and in various other top editor and staff positions.