West Branch, MI—After decades of Perlberg family ownership, Sunrise Printing & Publishing, Inc. has sold its three weekly newspapers, the Arenac County Independent in Standish, the Ogemaw County Herald in West Branch and the Oscoda County Herald in Mio, to CherryRoad Media, according to John Cribb, Cribb, Cope and Potts who represented the Perlberg family in the sale.
“My family has been involved in the Independent for over 100 years, and I am one month shy of having worked at the Ogemaw County Herald for 50 years,” said Robert Perlberg. “In addition, our Oscoda County Herald has been published for over 40 years.
“With that being said, I am excited to turn these newspapers over to CherryRoad Media to continue to publish newspapers that serve the people of our three counties. CherryRoad is as committed to maintaining strong community weekly newspapers as we have been.”
“The Perlberg family has serviced these communities well, and we are honored to be the company that can continue that service,” Jeremy Gulban, CherryRoad CEO, said.
CherryRoad Media, a subsidiary of CherryRoad Technologies, purchased its first newspaper in November 2020. While industry challenges, multiplied by the pandemic, have led to a disrupted and struggling local media industry, CherryRoad Media has bucked that trend.
The company has grown to 64 newspapers across 10 states in less than two years, and with the addition of Sunrise Printing & Publishing, 67 papers across 11 states.
Dedicated to building community engagement through the power of local news, CherryRoad focuses on smaller communities and their need for locally focused journalism.
One of CherryRoad’s key objectives is to marry its technology side with its local media side, to use technology to strengthen communities through their local newspapers. The company believes the newspaper is an essential resource for developing strong communities. By using technology, it strives to supplement the printed newspaper with enhanced digital capabilities.
“CherryRoad has a successful track record of enabling technologies that play an important role in the ‘digital fabric’ of the community, and we will use this acumen to enhance the online experience of these media assets,” Gulban said.
The Perlberg family was represented by John Cribb of Cribb, Cope & Potts. CCP is a leading merger and acquisition firm with offices in Montana, California and Arkansas.
