New owners at Sunshine Valley Gazette

Tanya Outridge, Kerry Brown and Cameron Outridge. Kerry is holding the first copy of the paper, Tanya and Cameron the most recent.

by Cameron & Tanya Outridge

Welcome to our first edition of the Sunshine Valley Gazette. This week, we took over this much-loved paper from the wonderful Kerry Brown, who has dedicated herself to building it up since 2012. 

Knowing the sense of community in the area, Kerry suspected that a truly local paper filled with local news and stories could provide a valuable resource and service to residents. And her hunch was confirmed as the paper grew in size, distribution and popularity.

Our first experience of Community newspapers was when we bought The Range News in Maleny in 1997. We enjoyed a similar experience of immersing ourselves in a small community, publishing community news and helping small businesses to grow, before selling the newspaper in 2006.

In our current digital marketing agency we work with business owners, telling their stories, and helping them to market their businesses online. But we missed the sense of connection that comes with community papers. In particular, we missed being part of vibrant, thriving communities like those here in the Sunshine Valley. 

There is a genuine spirit of camaraderie between people which is unique to smaller, rural communities, and is essential for community newspapers and small businesses alike, to flourish. 

We loved that there are so many family businesses here, providing services to their local customers, with so many stories to tell. 

Like every other business owner in the country today, we are faced with unique challenges to which we must adapt. We will need to find the best and safest ways to serve our readership and advertisers. With that reality in mind, we will be publishing each edition in full on our website
SunshineValleyGazette.com.au 

We will regularly update important news and events on our website and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/SunshineValleyGazette/. We encourage you to Like our page so that you can stay in touch with local news and information as it comes to hand. 

We will also be using both platforms to promote our wonderful advertisers, many of whom face tough times in the coming months. We're here to help business owners in the area find ways to market effectively through the next six months. 

We look forward to hearing from community groups, with your news and updates, and readers' letters and story ideas that we can bring to you.