Tom Yunt named CEO, president of Wick Communications Co.
Tom Yunt has been named president and chief executive officer of Wick Communications Co., L’Observateur’s parent company.
Yunt begins work on Oct. 7. He and his wife, Marianne, plan to move to Sierra Vista, Ariz., where the company is headquartered.
Tom Yunt was most recently president and chief executive officer of Woodward Communications Inc., a multimedia company with media and marketing services businesses in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. Woodward is headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa, and Yunt served on the company’s Board of Directors.
“We are pleased that Tom Yunt is joining Wick as its president and CEO and that the company has attracted someone of Tom’s background and experience in the community newspaper business,” said Steve Phillips, Wick’s chairman of the Board. “We look forward to Tom’s leadership in the challenges we face as an industry in the future.”
Yunt replaces John M. Mathew, Wick’s president and CEO since 2001. Mathew resigned in May but will continue to manage the company until Yunt is on board and the two will work together through a transition period.
“I am thrilled and honored to be named president and CEO and look forward to working with, and alongside, the
Wick family, Board of Directors and the valued Wick employees and associates in enhancing the company’s culture, strategic vision and direction.” Yunt said. “I look to continue the good work and legacy that John Mathew established and am excited about the future for Wick Communications.”
Tom and Marianne are natives of Frankfort, Ky. Tom earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University in 1977 and a master’s degree from the University of Dubuque in 2006.
He has been active in industry associations including the Inland Press Association. Yunt is past president of the Iowa Newspaper Association and has conducted extensive sales training for Inland and numerous state press associations. Yunt served on the board of directors and is past chair of the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, Dubuque’s economic development organization. He was also a board and executive committee member for the Dubuque Racing . Association, the non-profit gaming license-holder and oversight organization for the city-owned Mystique Casino. In addition, he served a two-year term as a member of the Board of Directors for Huckle Publishing, Inc. (Huckle Holdings Inc.), the Huckle family-owned newspaper company based in Traverse City, Mich.