Hot news! While putting together this update, we learned that the Chestnut Hill Local was honored with a second-place showing for News Organization of the Year among weekly publications for the fourth year in a row by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. This showcases the excellence across all areas of the organization and reaffirms the value of strong local journalism. This is just one of the “wins” we are celebrating.

As acting publisher, I’d like to provide an update on the health and significant developments of the Chestnut Hill Local over the last 12 months in four areas: (1) financial turnaround and stability, (2) editorial strength and talent pipeline, (3) production, advertising and operations, and (4) fundraising momentum.

Celebrating our 68th year as a community newspaper, we have renewed optimism and are writing our next chapter to ensure the newspaper continues on solid footing. We have witnessed a generation of life and are here for the next generation.

In the spirit of transparency in a turnaround, there is a lot to report.

1. Financial turnaround and stability

We closed our -2026 fiscal year on March 31 with a net loss of just $12,557, a dramatic improvement from the significant losses earlier in the year. Chestnut Hill Community Association oversight, fundraising and disciplined expense management were central to this turnaround. At end of May 2026, we closed our books with nearly $76,000 in net income, driven by continued cost control and the long-awaited receipt of a state grant. June 2026 financials are still being finalized but we expect the cause for celebration to continue with our prudent fiscal practices and looking ahead to impact in the next five years.

The Local is thankful to the Chestnut Hill Community Association, Chestnut Hill Community Fund and the community for raising more than $110,000 in 90 days for our emergency appeal at the end of 2025, which gave us time to reboot operations and continue to print the newspaper. The CHCA delayed its annual appeal to ensure the focus was laser sharp on the paper’s short-term funding needs and for that, we are eternally thankful. Employees, contractors, vendors and utilities were paid. We are out of a biweekly emergency to fund our operations and that feels really good.

State grant execution: A significant state grant from Sen. Art Haywood — announced in December 2025 and received April 23 — allowed us to cover the bulk of our 2026 technology investments. It takes an amazing number of technology providers to run a newsroom. We successfully justified the CHill arts and culture section as eligible for partial printing reimbursement. Office supplies and bookkeeping were also allowable under the administrative oversight category.

Advertising and budget outlook: We have entered the slower advertising months, but our projections are solid and we are more confident in our technology systems and collections processes than at any point since fall 2025. We will share the full Local budget at the August annual meeting. Local business support via print and digital remains strong. Our publication continues to offer unmatched value for small businesses seeking visibility in a trusted, community-focused outlet.

Staffing for sustainability: To support long-term operational excellence, we will be hiring for two new part time positions — circulation manager and collections manager — this fall.

2. Editorial strength and talent pipeline

Leadership and stability: Donna Shaw and Jeff Meade have agreed to continue as unpaid co-editors for a minimum of the next 18 months, thereby providing stability, continuity and mentorship. Their commitment to talent development is invaluable. I have agreed to continue to fill the roles of publisher and grants writer. These gifts of our time and expertise allow us to lift this expense from our budget at a time when other investments are needed to ensure the sustainability of our newsroom without sacrificing excellence.

Internships and talent development: This spring and summer, six student journalists — from Temple University and Germantown Friends School — have strengthened our newsroom, expanded our reporting capacity and diversified our pipeline. We continue our longstanding Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (PNA) summer internship partnership and are preparing for a new cohort of Temple interns in September, with grant funding in progress to offset costs.

Editorial impact: The Chestnut Hill Local continues to break stories ahead of the competition, and our newsroom continues to win awards. In July, we learned we won 12 PNA statewide Professional Keystone Media Awards for journalism excellence for the Chestnut Hill Local and Wissahickon magazine. This is the second year in a row for a dozen awards. Our newsroom remains small but mighty, consistently producing timely, high-impact reporting and value for small businesses.

We are building new and exciting relationships. Recently, Sam Katz approached us on a collaboration involving his 10-part epic — “In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America,” with new episodes being released throughout 2026. We look forward to tapping into the excitement of the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation.

Magazines and digital: We continue to produce our award-winning regional publication, Wissahickon magazine. We see real potential to grow Wissahickon into a regional lifestyle publication with broader advertising appeal. Digital presence work is also underway, with co-editor Jeff Meade leading coordination with outside experts including our technology partner. You may have noticed some recent improvements to our website in layout and content, with more planned.

3. Production, advertising and operations

Production: The transition to outsource our production for the Local has been completed and is performing well, with projected annual savings of nearly $40,000 that began in April. Blaise Brugger remains with us, giving us continuity and high production standards. Layout and printing for East Falls Now continues to be managed in-house.

Advertising and circulation: Advertising revenue is slightly down; growth of special sections will be a priority focus in the new fiscal year. In April, we learned that for the second consecutive year, the Local won the PNA Foundation Advertising Contest sweepstakes for our circulation category. That award was a result of the points we accumulated in the individual categories: four first places, two second places and three honorable mentions.

Operations: Thanks to our relationship with the Lenfest Institute, the Local embarked on market research funded by Lenfest to ground our future strategy work. From this, we have greater geographic and demographic preferences that will guide us on a number of fronts including our print and digital plans.

Vendor engagement: We have completed product demos with our technology partners and prospects. This has helped us extract the maximum value out of our relationships, compare offerings with new potentials and determine our main technology framework.

Collections: Thank you to past associate publisher Larry Hochberger for his help collecting long outstanding bills and his ongoing support. We continue to pursue the most aged accounts.

4. Fundraising momentum

Earlier this year, we celebrated the Chestnut Hill Local attaining its 501(c)(3) status. This allows the Local to do its own fundraising and strengthens our donor appeals.

We are seeing strong traction in both grants and donor cultivation:

• We have our first Friends of Chestnut Hill Local commitment: $16,000 from Temple Health-Chestnut Hill Hospital, which will provide a four-week sponsored distribution of the paper and sampling at a time when the hospital looks to share news of its nearby office opening.

• Two grants covering our internships have been received and continue to be popular with funders. These include the spring Temple intern grant received from the Chestnut Hill Community Fund and summer intern grant received from PNA. Also, an application for an additional $2,500 PNA Fellows Grant and one to a national fund with connections to an area nonprofit have been submitted for fall intern support.

• We have renewed our commitment to the Philadelphia Journalism Collaborative (PJC), which through Temple University is a partnership of 30 local newsrooms that supports solutions-oriented journalism with funding. Our Philly250/WURD collaborative reporting for an economic mobility series was funded by the PJC this spring. We look forward to the opportunities this opens up for our community reporting.

• Volunteer Amy Hordes is now assisting with grant writing. We have developed a robust “grant tracker” and aligned with Chestnut Hill Local budget needs and priorities. CHCA Executive Director Anne McNiff and Amy Hordes attended the Lenfest Collaborative Summit May 14–15, 2026, to strengthen relationships essential to our grant and fundraising strategy.

• We continue to search for and pursue grants for new media/digital reporting, community reporting and environmental reporting. We are pursuing two significant voter participation grants that would highlight and strengthen the Local’s important role in nonpartisan voter engagement.

In closing, I hope through my update you can feel the renewed optimism that we share for the Chestnut Hill Local.

Laura Lucas

President, Chestnut Hill Community Association

Publisher, Chestnut Hill Local