Transportation Media today celebrates an important milestone with the 30th work anniversary of associate publisher Kathy Penner.
During those 30 years Penner leveraged her unmatched work ethic, talent and drive to create the industry's largest Careers section within Truck News and Truck West. Trucking is a people-driven industry and it's safe to say the Careers section Penner has grown and managed so capably over the years has served as the conduit for thousands of successful job hires.
Penner has received a series of promotions within the growing Trucking Group of Transportation Media -- which also now includes Motortruck Fleet Executive, www.trucknews.com, TMTV, the Surface Transportation Summit, Transportation Media Research, and several newsletters. In her current role as associate publisher, she works in tandem with publisher and editorial director Lou Smyrlis to manage all aspects of the business.
"Kathy is the heart and soul of our group. Her contributions over the years have played a significant role in our market leading position. We simply could not have achieved so much without her. She is one of the most determined, capable and hard working people I know and I can't wait to see where the next years will lead us to," said Smyrlis.
Kathy is also one of the best known faces in the industry, traveling across North America to attend industry events and working tirelessly with industry organizations such as the Toronto Transportation Club and our own annual charity golf tournament.
Kathy's tenure with the Trucking Group is representative of the deep well of experience that pervades every department of the group. Every member of the sales team -- Doug Copeland, Don Besler and Brenda Grant -- has more than 25 years of industry experience. Combined with Kathy, the sales team has more than 120 years of experience in the industry.
The editorial team, led by James Menzies, one of the most influential editors in Canada's transportation media, is the most experienced in the industry. The team includes long time staffers Julia Kuzeljevich and Jim Bray as well as recent hire Daniela Piteo, with more hiring announcements to come.
Added to that is the most experienced talent pool of trucking industry writers including former Truck News editor John G. Smith, long-time Quebec correspondent Carroll McCormick, on-the-road editor Harry Rudolfs and the most recognized columnists and bloggers in the industry.
"In an industry as vibrant and changing as fast as trucking, experiences counts. It takes an experienced team to best integrate all the different media platforms available today and to guide both readers and advertisers through the most effective use of each platform," said Smyrlis, himself an industry veteran of more than 20 years. "Whereas others continue to churn through staff in the hopes of finding the right mix, we know we already have a winning formula with the family of staff who have been growing our products for more than three decades now. Kathy's 30th work anniversary is testament to that."
