New Digs for GCI

As I’m writing this I’m surrounded by cardboard boxes and unhung pictures and happily looking out my window at a bright fall sunrise over the green leafiness of scenic Valley View, Ohio…GCI’s new corporate home. It’s a very happy day for our team.

Our company, GIE Media, has always been in the Cleveland area but along the way we ended up split into two offices. Our main office was a modern, well-maintained (but a bit boring) space we leased in the burbs of Richfield. Our downtown office where GCI’s editors and sales team worked was in the slightly gritty but dynamic and interesting Ohio City area, about a mile straight west from downtown.

The company had basically been born there 35 years ago so it felt special despite the winos peeing in the alley and the other oddities of a semi-gentrified urban area. GIE started in one old house and, as we grew, another house was cobbled onto it. Periodic remodeling turned the structure into a crazy-quilt of strange little offices and cubbyholes with editors and salespeople stuck into every nook and cranny.

Yet, despite the cramped circumstances, we thrived and the company grew over three decades from one publication (Pest Control Technology) to include our green group (Lawn & Landscape, GCI, Nursery Management, Greenhouse Management, Produce Grower and Garden Center pubs) plus similar clusters in the industrial manufacturing and recycling and waste disposal markets. We’ve faced a few challenges, but we’ve continued to grow and succeed while other media companies did not. Why?

Well, first because we’re a well-managed, family-owned company. GIE Media is a rarity these days in a publishing industry dominated by venture capitalists, investment banks and “flippers” who buy and sell media companies. Our owner – Chris Foster – isn’t in some tower on Wall Street…he’s down the hall from us and we work with him every day.

Second, we practice what others preach about success in media these days: It’s all about quality content. We hire more great editors and designers than other companies our size and we believe in giving a platform to our industries’ best and brightest voices. That’s why you get to enjoy Tim Moraghan, Bruce Williams, John Kaminski, Henry DeLozier and the rest of our contributors every month. Quality content means innovative ideas and real solutions you can use.

Third, we’ve invested in technology to bring you digital solutions no one else can provide. Our native apps, market-leading social media feeds and topic-specific enewsletters have resonated in the golf market and our other segments. As a result, we’re recognized as the clear leaders in digital in golf and every market we serve.

Finally, we LOVE what we do. We hire people who are passionate about their business and, quickly, they become passionate about your business. That passion shows up in every page of the magazine, every post on our website and every tweet we send. We’re having fun and it makes us better.

So, our new digs reflect us well. It’s a great space in a terrific location (there’s a driving range across the street and we’re close enough to the river to walk over and catch a few walleye at lunchtime) and, most importantly, we’re all under the same roof sharing the same culture and pursuing the same goal: serve our readers better than any other business publisher. We love what we do…and we hope you do too.