Founded in 2005 by John and Jennifer Garrett, Community Impact was built on the belief that all residents deserve to be informed about what’s happening in their communities. The newsroom covers transportation, business updates, school and county information, dining and nonprofit features and development. Community Impact’s free monthly print newspapers and daily digital products share this information in a direct, unbiased style while containing depth and usefulness.
This model of hyperlocal news has been successful in over 40 communities across Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, serving more than 2.5 million residents across the state each month.
“Regardless of people's socioeconomic status, we send them news for free that helps them feel good about where they live and work and connect to the local community,” Garrett said. “The more we can do that, the better. We're 20 years in as a company, but we hope we're just getting started as we continue to try to be the most trusted local news organization in all of Texas.”
A digital-first approach
As Community Impact has continued to grow, its team has developed a new model for expansion called CI Light. This approach utilizes digital newsletters to build Community Impact’s brand and readership before investing in a full print newspaper launch.
After seeing the success of CI Light in Bastrop, Community Impact is bringing this strategy to Boerne-Fair Oaks Ranch and New Caney-Porter, with daily email newsletters beginning in February followed by a print launch in May.
“The strategic idea is, ‘Let's give them great news, build our brand and build trust so that when we launch the print product, it's a success,’” Garrett said. “That's exactly what happened in Bastrop and what we believe will happen with these two launches as well.”
This strategy extends beyond residents to include collaboration with local chambers and businesses, building connections between these organizations and the community.
New market expansion
Boerne and Fair Oaks Ranch are two fast-growing communities located about 30 miles north of San Antonio, where Community Impact already has an established presence. Many residents in this area frequently work, seek medical care and shop in North San Antonio, which made expanding to this area feel like a natural next step.
The expansion will be led by San Antonio Market President Heather Demere, who has been with the company since 2017.
“Once I met with the chamber president, the city manager, their PIO and the county judge, they were all so welcoming and excited that they were going to finally have a local news source to help them tell the important stories, because they said there's so much confusion about what happens at city and county meetings,” Demere said.
Community Impact's approach, with its commitment to delivering a paper to every mailbox each month, provides a reliable way to reach a broad audience. Once the print product is launched in May, it will be mailed to every home and business in the 78006 and 78015 ZIP codes.
“There's nothing else out there that is going to hit the entire circulation of 31,000 mailboxes with high-quality local news,” Demere said.
The New Caney-Porter expansion will be led by Houston Market President Jason Culpepper. In his 15 years with the company, Culpepper led Community Impact’s expansion into Houston and has grown the metro to be the largest in the company with its own two-story headquarters at 16300 Northwest Freeway, Jersey Village.
For the past seven years, Community Impact has been serving the Lake Houston, Kingwood and Humble areas, and has closely monitored the rapid growth in neighboring east Montgomery County.
“We’ve had a lot of inquiries over that time period of when we were going to start serving that rapidly growing area with a news product,” Culpepper said. “The East Montgomery chamber has done an incredible job of connecting businesses and leaders in that area, and more development is coming.”
To keep residents informed about the continued growth in New Caney and Porter, Community Impact will be mailed to 36,000 mailboxes when the print edition is launched later this year.
What the community is saying
Mark Linabury, who serves as the Greater East Montgomery Chamber President and CEO, expressed enthusiasm for how Community Impact will benefit this growing region.
"I was thrilled to hear the good news when I learned that Community Impact was launching a New Caney-Porter edition,” Linabury said. “The Greater EMC Chamber is the voice of business, and Community Impact is known for its business reporting and journalistic integrity. The timing could not be better with so much growth and development happening in our area. New Caney and Porter are at the center of our Chamber's service area. We call it 'The Hub of Opportunity,' and we're looking forward to sharing and being a part of the quality coverage Community Impact provides."
The city of Boerne is one of Community Impact’s founding sponsors because of the way both organization’s missions are aligned, said Christopher Shadrock, Director of Communications for the city of Boerne.
Shadrock said the city offers exceptional services that go beyond standard city offerings, with programs and features many people aren't even aware of. The challenge is finding ways to share this great information with as many people as possible, he said.
Community Impact’s presence in the community will also help support local businesses, said Holly Rodriguez, Senior Vice President at The Greater Boerne Chamber of Commerce
“We are excited to have a new publication in Boerne to help spread the word about all the exciting things we have going on here with our small business community and new businesses coming to town,” Rodriguez said.
Residents can sign up here to receive the Boerne-Fair Oaks Ranch newsletter and local businesses can partner with Community Impact for their marketing needs by contacting Heather Demere at [email protected].
Residents can sign up here to receive the New Caney-Porter newsletter, and local businesses can partner with Community Impact for their marketing needs by contacting Jason Culpepper at [email protected].
Learn more
For more information about Community Impact, future coverage areas, sourcing and marketing questions, and career inquiries, visit https://communityimpact.com/corporate-contact/.
