Valley News under new ownership, first change in 34 years

WILMINGTON- Randy and Vicki Capitani, owners of The Deerfield Valley News for nearly 35 years, have announced the sale of their venerable weekly print newspaper to Vermont Independent Media, publisher of the The Commons. 
The sale was completed on June 27, bringing The Deerfield Valley News under the umbrella of Vermont Independent Media, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news corporation. The Deerfield Valley News will be a nonprofit sister publication of The Commons, an independent newspaper covering Brattleboro, the Connecticut River Valley, and southern Vermont. 
Vermont Independent Media and its board of directors plan to maintain the The Deerfield Valley News as a paid-circulation newspaper serving the Deerfield Valley, and current subscriptions will be honored under the new management.  The newspaper will continue to operate out of its Wilmington location, and editorial staff and other key personnel will remain in their roles.   
The Capitanis have also agreed to remain in their day-to-day production roles for the next several months as the newspaper transitions under the new ownership.  The new management team, which includes VIM board president Steve Mundahl, board member Jonathan Lhowe, and project manager Lynn Barrett, began work in the newsroom on Monday, July 7.
Randy Capitani has owned The Deerfield Valley News since February 1991, when he and partner Bobby Edwards purchased the newspaper from Don Albano.  Edwards, who was also Dover’s police chief until his retirement in 2013, ran a part-time video production business at the time.  Capitani brought his prior experience as a sales manager for a Taos, NM newspaper and in print marketing at Mount Snow to the partnership.  
Capitani says he took his first job at a newspaper as a way to support a skiing lifestyle.  
“I had a friend who was working there,” he says.  “I had graduated early, and I said ‘I’m going to New Mexico to ski. I ended up staying for six years.  I learned the ropes from them (The Taos News), they were really good about training.  I learned I had a knack for it, and I said “Hey, I can do this.’”
In 1985, Capitani left New Mexico for Vermont, and a job in the marketing department at Mount Snow, where he produced the resort’s printed marketing, including newsletters, brochures, and trail maps.  He left Mount Snow shortly after the company went public in 1989.  “They gathered us all in the conference center in April, at the end of the ski season, and talked about how important it was to keep the stock price up,”  he recalls.  “And, oh, there will be no bonuses this year.” 
That financial let-down was the nudge he needed to strike out on his own.  Before they purchased the newspaper, Capitani and Edwards produced marketing materials for Deerfield Valley businesses, including a valley dining guide, brochures, and newsletters.
At the time, the newspaper was on shaky financial ground.  “Don had a good vision, but as a businessman he didn’t have good follow-through,” Randy Capitani recalls.  “We spent the first few years of ownership working to stabilize the business.  I remember employees of Don’s telling us that they used to race to the bank to cash their checks on Friday, because they didn’t know if there would be money in the account on Monday.  We never missed payroll.”
Under Albano’s ownership, the newspaper was known as The Southern Vermont Valley News, one of several name changes the paper had gone through over the years since its founding in 1966.  Capitani and Edwards wanted to create a solid, recognizable local identity for the newspaper.  They renamed the paper The Deerfield Valley News, and the name has remained unchanged since then. 
Edwards and Capitani built the local paper into a viable business and, with the 1994 closure of The Green Mountain Courier, a weekly newspaper published in Wilmington, The Deerfield Valley News once again became the valley’s sole newspaper.  In 1995, Capitani and his wife, Vicki Capitani, purchased Edwards’ share of the business.  Vicki Capitani took on an active role in the day-to-day operations when she joined the newspaper as general manager in 2001.
Prior to taking the position at The Deerfield Valley News, Vicki Capitani was a sales executive at FiberMark, a paper manufacturer in Brattleboro, which meant frequent travel across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  Capitani says she was ready for something that would keep her closer to her family. 
“Will (the Capitanis’ older son) was heading off to first grade, and I didn’t want to be gone so much, and miss so much,” she says.  “It seemed like the right time, and I wanted to get involved in the school, coaching, and to be able to be there when he got off the school bus.”
The Deerfield Valley News has been headquartered in several locations over the years, from offices at Mount Snow, to the Professional Building in Wilmington, the Valley Center business plaza in Dover, as well as offices owned by Edwards’ father Larry Edwards in Dover.  In 1997, the Capitanis purchased a multi-use building on Route 100 near the Wilmington-Dover town line that currently houses the newspaper offices.  
“I felt it was important for The Deerfield Valley News to have some stability in terms of location,” Randy Capitani says.  The paper will remain at its current location.
Now in the 35th year of their ownership, Capitani says The Deerfield Valley News has seen a number of milestones since he has been at the helm.  In 1995, the newspaper launched the first version of its website, one of the first newspaper websites in the state.  The local real estate market has boomed and gone bust several times over the last three and a half decades. 
The business continued to grow through the 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium.  But the snowless winter of 2007, the economic downturn of 2008, and the destruction brought by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 took a toll on every local business, including The Deerfield Valley News.  The company’s close relationship with their customers over the years has helped pull the newspaper through hard times.
The strong bond remains.  “When we told a couple of customers that we sold the newspaper, they got really emotional,” Vicki Capitani said.  “You really have to have good partnerships and connection with customers and they have to trust that you will do the best you possibly can for them.”
Although the devastation from Irene destroyed transportation and communication infrastructure in the southern Vermont and brought the valley to a standstill, The Deerfield Valley New managed to publish, bringing vital disaster and recovery information to readers.  
“We were scrambling to publish that week,” Randy Capitani says.  “At the time, we were printing in Bennington – and it wasn’t easy to get to Bennington.  We published late, and it was a big edition.”
Over the next several months, the Deerfield Valley News continued to document the valley’s recovery. 
“The rest of the year was just a blur,” Capitani says, “but we never missed an issue.”
After 34 years of ownership, Capitani says he and Vicki Capitani knew the time was right to pass the torch to another owner when the younger of their two sons graduated from college.  “We made the decision years ago that that would be the trigger to look for an exit strategy,” Randy Capitani said. “We reached out to VIM last fall to begin the discussion.  We thought we owed them the courtesy of saying ‘No, we can’t make this work.’  But it turned out they could make it work.”
The upcoming wedding of their older son, Will, was also a motivating factor.  The wedding will take place in the bride’s parents’ home country of India.  
“We wanted to go to Will’s wedding and not feel compelled to turn around and come right back,” Vicki Capitani said.  
The Capitanis say they’ve been pleased with VIM’s enthusiasm, and their commitment to maintaining The Deerfield Valley News as the valley’s newspaper of record.  
“We’re excited about handing the paper off to someone who cares about it,” Randy Capitani said.  “VIM is a nonprofit, and the board will keep The Deerfield Valley News a viable independent news organization.”
Vicki Capitani said VIM’s dedication and focus on community journalism made them a natural choice to carry the DVN torch.  
“They’re good stewards of news,” she said.  “They appreciate that our paper is not The Commons, and they draw that distinction.  I think they see this as a huge opportunity to reach more people, with two different platforms.”
Though many small independent weekly newspapers have shuttered operations over the last decades, the Deerfield Valley News has continued to remain a viable business.   Capitani credits support from the community, local businesses, and the newspaper’s many dedicated staff members over the years for the paper’s continued success and longevity.  
“It is thanks to our staff,” said Vicki Capitani.  “And the commitment our staff has to the community.  We couldn’t have done it without them.”
Randy and Vicki Captani will begin to reduce their involvement in The Deerfield Valley News over the next several months.  After their well-deserved vacation this fall, they’ll re-evaluate their role with VIM.  One of them will take a position as a member of the VIM board of directors.  Randy Capitani says he doesn’t foresee retiring completely.  “I’m not going to just stop working,” he said.  “Maybe I’ll work at the ski resort for a winter, or drive a car as a volunteer for the MOOver.  I’ve kicked a few ideas around, but I’ll be active in the community, for sure.”
Vicki Capitani, who also serves as chair of the Dover Selectboard, said she’ll have more time to dedicate to her work for the town, and hopes to find other opportunities as well.  
“I plan to get involved in something, volunteering or a part-time job that gives me more flexibility – so we can actually take a vacation.”