Beth Clark, a veteran media executive and nonprofit leader, is joining the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal as its new associate publisher, Corridor Media Group founder and CEO John Lohman announced.
Ms. Clark, who most recently served as development and marketing director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley, will begin her duties at the QCBJ today, Nov. 14. Ms. Clark, whose resume includes serving as a former Quad-City Times co-publisher and owner/publisher of the former QC Magazine, joins a staff of veteran Quad Cities journalists hired to help Mr. Lohman launch the startup publication late last year.
The QCBJ, a publication of the North Liberty, Iowa-based Corridor Media Group, revealed its latest staff addition to a crowd of nearly 500 gathered at the business journal’s inaugural Forty Under 40 celebration on Thursday, Nov. 10. The first class of honorees were recognized at an awards dinner at the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf.
“I’m excited to bring Beth’s impressive media background and strong Quad Cities community involvement to our growing company,” Mr. Lohman said. “She will help us build on the strong foundation that Jennifer DeWitt has created over the past year with our unmatched business news coverage in the region and help us better serve the business community.”
Ms. Clark brings a wealth of media experience to her new role. She began her career at Madison Newspapers, publishers of the Wisconsin State Journal, where she was in advertising sales and the classified advertising sales manager. A longtime Lee Enterprises employee, she also was the advertising director for Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette, retail advertising manager for The Billings (Montana) Gazette, as well as the publisher for the Corvallis (Oregon) Gazette-Times for five years before joining the Quad Cities Times in late 1996.
“I am so excited to be back in the world of media with such a great content provider as the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal,” Ms. Clark said. “It feels like ‘home’ again, working with the seasoned professionals on this team.”
After her newspaper career, Ms. Clark also served two years as regional director of The Grand Excursion of 2004, a national event held in the Quad Cities that reenacted the Grand Excursion of 1854. She then went on to launch the QC Magazine with her husband.
For the past 12 years, Ms. Clark has been with Big Brothers Big Sisters, leaving in early October. In addition, she has operated her own marketing and fundraising consulting business, Milepost Ventures LLC, in Bettendorf, for the past 12 years.
Over the past two decades, Ms. Clark has served on the board of directors of River Action, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Junior Achievement of the Heartland, the former Davenport Chamber of Commerce and Our Savior Lutheran Church, Bettendorf. She also served on the marketing committee for United Way of the Quad Cities and as a mentor for the Lead(h)er women’s mentoring program in the Quad Cities.
Raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, she has been married to Bruce Clark since 1986. The couple, who live in Bettendorf, have two adult sons Evan and Griffen.
Ms. Clark earned her bachelor of arts degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and graduated from the Newspaper Advanced Executive Program at Northwestern University (a joint program between Medill School of Journalism and the Kellogg School of Management).
“Several months ago, I was excited to see such an in-depth, business news vehicle as the QCBJ startup in the Quad Cities,” Ms. Clark said. She added: “Its local business coverage brings a variety of business and community news that is appreciated by both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.”
The media veteran said she looks forward to working with Mr. Lohman, adding “John has a great sense of what is important to businesses and their role in making a community successful.”
She also hopes her nonprofit background will help expand the QCBJ’s reach into the area’s nonprofit community. “I greatly appreciated my time with Big Brothers Big Sisters. The experience provides me with a unique perspective regarding the importance of the business community in providing both financial support and volunteers to non-profit agencies that support those in need in the Quad Cities region.”
Ms. Clark can be reached at beth@quadcitiesbusiness.com.
