Mainebiz founder Jon Whitney reflects
Photo/Jan Holder
Jon Whitney founded Biz (what would become Mainebiz) in 1994
He only made a whisper of profit with that first issue of Mainebiz (then called Biz), but back in 1994, that was all Jon Whitney needed.
“I had $6,000 worth of advertising in that first issue,” says Whitney, who laughs at the recollection. “But I knew I was on to something.”
Whitney, a Maine native who’d launched a number of shoppers and specialty newspapers in Maine, had just returned from a stint in Boston where he started a retail guide for Newbury Street and a neighborhood paper for Cambridge. Splitting his time between the two states was draining, even for a single guy. He realized he had to make a commitment to one location, and opted to return to Maine and pursue the idea of a business journal.
“I saw an opportunity that needed filling,” he says of the genesis of Mainebiz. “Several business papers had come and gone and I didn’t think the Portland Press Herald did a good job of reporting on local businesses. I figured the business environment in Portland was not well served and there was room for a weekly, or a monthly, or something.”
With about $1,500 in startup money, Whitney produced his prototype. Although he retained the title of publisher, he also sold the ads and handled circulation, while veteran newswoman Shirley Jacks oversaw the editorial content and a friend with a Mac and some desktop publishing experience did the production work.
“It was a totally bootstrap operation, but it was always a serious business journal,” he says.
Fast forward to 1999. The paper had expanded beyond Portland, it was published every other week and professional staff populated each department. Annual ad revenues approached $400,000.
“It was like riding on the back of a tiger,” says Whitney. “It was a great product, but there were constant cash flow problems. We were undercapitalized, like most small businesses. I knew we needed a cash infusion to keep growing, and I was tired.”
So he said yes to an offer of $250,000 from Worcester Publishing Co., now called New England Business Media, the parent company of the Worcester Business Journal and the Hartford Business Journal. Today, Mainebiz reports revenues upwards of $1.6 million and counts daily emails, a weekly enewsletter, interactive website and even a television show among its many ways to deliver Maine’s business news.
“You’re doing fabulously now,” says Whitney, now a real estate broker living in Harrison. “I’m glad it was such a good fit back in 1999.”
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