20 Under 40 - 1997 Profile: Albert J. Manzi, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

PRESSTIME

By Presstime Magazine

First Published: December 1997

As a 10-year-old carrier for The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Albert J. Manzi learned early the value of customer service. He met "people who wanted me to come every two weeks and visit, and others who didn't want to pay me," he recalls. "Knowing the market is a big advantage," says Manzi, who now oversees circulation and production, adding that in Wilkes-Barre, "a newcomer is defined as someone who's been here less than 10 years."

Publisher Mark Contreras notes that in a recent market-research study by Knight-Ridder Inc. of Miami, which purchased the paper in 1996, The Times Leader ranked number one in customer service for home delivery and single-copy sales among all KRI newspapers. Under Manzi's circulation leadership, the paper has grown from trailing its daily competitor, The Citizens' Voice, by 27,000 papers in the late 1970s to leading it by 13,939 daily in 1997. To achieve these results, Manzi says all departments, not just circulation, must make customer service a priority.

Manzi has conquered numerous challenges in his career at the Times Leader. In 1987, he planned and oversaw the successful start-up of The Sunday Times Leader in a crowded market. He also supervised the 1990 shift from youth carriers to adults who work out of distribution centers. One year ago, another major project came online: a $15 million printing and distribution facility that features the first MAN Roland Geoman press installed and operated in the United States.

While Manzi looks back at these accomplishments with pride, he looks forward with concern. "You've got to find ways to be more valuable to your customers," he says, once again honing his focus.