You may have seen a new face the past few weeks in and around Clarion and Eagle Grove, promoting your hometown newspapers, the Wright County Monitor and the Eagle Grove Eagle. If not, we hope you are able to meet him very soon. His name is Ed Lynn and he has joined our team as the new Marketing Consultant for both papers. We are excited about what he has to offer not only to our offices, but to each and every member of the business community as well as all of the groups, clubs, organizations, and individuals who have something they would like others to know about. He is ready to show you why newspaper promotion is a key factor in helping you grow and achieve success. Lynn is no stranger to hard work and goals of success. He began working at the age of eight, promoting himself as a house number painter. The money he earned he saved for college. The older he got, the more he worked, the more money he saved.

Lynn attended Stoughton High School in Wisconsin, where he discovered his love of all things related to journalism through their school newspaper. Not only did they put out a full newspaper, but they had their own in-house printing department. He was proud to work on the staff as a reporter, cartoonist, and in the darkroom developing film.

“Later on I got very serious about darkroom printing...even though I didn’t actually take the pictures in high school,” explained Lynn.

After graduating in 1989, Lynn was unable to go straight to college, so instead he found a way to hang around the college area. He got a job delivering pizzas, which he often took to college students. At that job, a woman he worked with noticed that he was always taking snapshots of different things. She recommended he get into that line of work. He took her advice and got a job in photography. He admits he was very good at it, but years later realized what he was “really” good at was the business side of the business. But we’ll get to that later.

At the age of 25, Lynn started college studying Commercial Photography and Multimedia Design at the Art Institute of Seattle, Washington. It was the height of the “grunge” era, and Lynn gained a good knowledge of popular music. Afterwards, he put that knowledge to use when he accepted a position in the Media Department at Best Buy in Janesville, Wisconsin. He was later promoted to Department Manager, and then briefly served as the defacto General Manager. During this time, he realized the cost of living was too expensive in Wisconsin, and began some internet searches, looking for a house in a more affordable area. He was thrilled when he found a home he loved in Kanawha and was able to transfer to Best Buy in Mason City. His goal after moving to Iowa was to eventually go into business for himself.

In 2004 he launched his own photography business. He did mostly wedding and portrait shots. Along the way he got “pulled into” the Obama campaign when he volunteered to do some work in Obama’s Mason City campaign office. “I did a lot of work on the campaign I was proud of...like on the Affordable Care Act,” said Lynn.

After seven years volunteering on the Obama team, between the Obama for America campaign and the Organizing For America PAC, Lynn decided to pursue his passion for news journalism, launching an online (digital) opinion news site.

“Through the course of doing this, I realized local news is far more powerful than national news...local news focuses on the good a community is doing,” said Lynn.

That’s what led him to becoming a part of our sister newspaper team of the Wright County Monitor and the Eagle Grove Eagle as of September 3, 2021.

“I’m excited to be part of this team because it puts me in a position to help entrepreneurs and business owners, like I used to be, succeed...especially in a challenging environment of a small town,” said Lynn. “I believe we are fortunate to still have small town newspapers in Iowa...and I’m trying to work to make sure we keep them here.”

Lynn added that he has enjoyed many things about his new marketing consultant positions with the Wright County Monitor and Eagle Grove Eagle, like getting to know the people, learning what’s important to them and their businesses, discovering how he can help them achieve their goals, and being able to be out and about in the communities.

“My ultimate goal is to help you find what works for your business,” said Lynn.

Lynn has been a resident of Iowa for two decades now and is proud to have raised his child here.

“I have felt very welcomed by the people of Clarion and Eagle Grove. Some I already knew and some I’m getting to know...and I look forward to helping grow both our community businesses as well as our hometown newspapers,” Lynn concluded.