A copy of the Stowe Reporter newspaper is pictured May 24, 2021. File photo by Natalie Williams/VTDigger This story by Tommy Gardner was first published in Vermont Community Newspaper Group papers on Sept. 3, 2026.  A Colorado-based nonprofit organization founded five years ago with the miss ion to acquire newspapers and avoid creating “news deserts” will purchase the five weekly publications under the Vermont Community Newspaper Group banner. The National Trust for Local News announced the acquisition this week as part of its expansion to a fourth state — the trust owns papers in Colorado, Georgia and Maine — calling it a “community-first” decision by the Vermont publications’ owners. The deal, “for a nominal fee,” will close later this month, according to a press release. The Vermont Community Newspaper Group’s weekly titles are the Stowe Reporter; the News Citizen of Lamoille County; The Other Paper of South Burlington; the Shelburne News; and The Citizen of Charlotte and Hinesburg. Citing increased financial stresses on their business, VTCNG majority owner Bob Miller and minority owners Judy Kearns and Biddle Duke decided earlier this year to establish nonprofit ownership by the end of 2026. “Establishing a sustainable future for our community newspapers has been our priority for several years,” the owners said in a statement. “By selling these publications to the National Trust, not only can they survive but there will be investment in expanding coverage to thrive in a climate where local news is so important and increasingly difficult to find.” The trust’s top brass has been bullish on the newspapers’ potential and emphasized there will be no layoffs at the newspapers. Its 15 full-time and two part-time employees will be retained, and the office will remain at its current location on Mountain Road in Stowe, the trust said. The trust’s management team has reiterated that everything will remain status quo for readers and subscribers — editorial leadership will stay the same, and advertising will remain a key component of the newspapers’ business model. However, the nonprofit designation will open a new world of potential revenue for the newspapers. And the trust has stated its commitment to “providing the capital, expertise and infrastructure needed to unlock the publications’ growth potential.” “These publications have a solid foundation from which a stronger future can be built,” National Trust for Local News CEO Tom Wiley said. “They are vital local news sources for northern Vermont, led by an experienced team that has trusted relationships with readers, advertisers and a wide range of community partners.” Bill Stille will immediately begin working with the Vermont team as a transition and transformation adviser provided by the trust. Stille previously held leadership roles at The Detroit News, The Columbus Dispatch and The Buffalo News. His work will include identifying opportunities to strengthen partnerships and collaborate with statewide stakeholders, according to the press release. Fast rise, stabilize The National Trust for Local News was founded in 2021 and grew quickly. The Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism organization that covers media happenings around the country, suggested last year that the trust had gotten out ahead of its skis as it amassed 64 local newspapers in three states and grew into a $50 million media business. In the first half of 2025, it sold more than 20 of its Colorado newspapers to a for-profit media company and closed two others. The trust’s Maine subsidiary cut print production and laid people off, according to Poynter. However, those moves were initiated before Wiley started as CEO, following the abrupt departure of co-founder Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro. Poynter reported last year that Wiley said “he’s focused on stabilizing the nonprofit and its current newspapers before turning to acquiring more publications.” That more purposeful approach may be reflected in the trust’s recent acquisitions. The Vermont Community Newspaper Group is one of just three over the past year; its Georgia subsidiary in July acquired the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and The Macon Telegraph from the McClatchy Media Company. It is unclear what the trust’s venture into Vermont signals for the rest of the Green Mountain State’s media landscape. Local angle The Stowe Reporter purchased the News Citizen in 2015 and, after purchasing the three Chittenden County titles, changed the parent company name to the Vermont Community Newspaper Group in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic was an era of turbulence for the papers. Its sixth title, the Waterbury Record, was almost immediately shuttered in 2020, just weeks after Vermont declared a state of emergency. Two months later, the company laid off roughly a third of its newsroom and its production department, amid a precipitous drop in advertising revenue. Local businesses were also bleeding money during the pandemic. The papers stabilized and continued publication, but they continued to, as a collective, lose money or barely break even. The one bright spot in advertisement revenue has been the Stowe Guide magazine, in some years carrying the rest of the titles on its twice-yearly, glossy, 250-page back. After publisher and editor Greg Popa retired at the end of 2024, the company formed a five-person management team to help guide operational decisions. The team’s first major move was to drastically change the delivery model for some of the weeklies, largely eschewing the U.S. Postal Service and relying on a beefed-up rack delivery system. After a year under the management team model, majority owner Miller hinted at, and then gradually insisted on, exploring the nonprofit route. The three owners address the changes, and reiterate the newspapers’ continuing mission, in an opinion piece this week. “Newspapers like this are the lifeblood of the communities we serve. They mark births and marriages, deaths and departures, challenges and successes, transgressions and triumphs,” they write. “Most importantly, they help us to understand where we live so we may best chart our future.” Disclosure: Tommy Gardner is editor of the Vermont Community Newspaper Group and a member of its management team. He knew about talks with the National Trust for Local News but was not part of the process. Read the story on VTDigger here: Nonprofit to acquire Vermont newspaper company. ...read more read less