Most executives at the major metros have spent their entire careers in the newspaper business. Some will even tell you that their first job was as a carrier.
Not so Rick Surkamer, the new director of manufacturing and distribution for the Chicago Tribune. He had already lived through a wide range of non-newspaper experiences before joining the Tribune in 1986. His confidence and hyperkinetic energy led him to newspapering and have helped him increase his responsibilities ever since.
Blair Richard Surkamer, 43, grew up in the Chicago suburbs and graduated from high school in Milwaukee. He majored in philosophy at the University of Wisconsin in the early '70s and then began a journey of self-discovery. "In those early years, I tried everything," he says. "Community theater, voice overs, you name it. I was a construction worker at a steel-coating plant in Chicago, but I was laid off and moved to British Columbia so I could ski."
Surkamer then began to focus on his career. He became a marketing and service coordinator for a small power-lift manufacturer. After jumping to a distributor, he was promoted to sales manager and then general manager.
Surkamer next opened two automobile-restoration franchises with his father. While working there, he entered the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and received his MBA in 1987.
A friend from grad school recommended him for a management position at a local graphic-arts company, which he accepted. Soon, however, "all the good people started bailing out and going to the Trib."
The year was 1986, and the Tribune was managing a strike. Surkamer turned down an opportunity with Kraft Foods to join the Tribune, because the latter "was an unpredictable situation, with lots of change."
Surkamer spent his first six months at the Trib in an operations-training program, and then hopped onto the fast track: pre-press planning manager, pre-press and packaging division manager, press and packaging director, production director, metro circulation manager, and now manufacturing and distribution director.
In his new position, Surkamer is responsible for all aspects of producing and distributing the Tribune. His goals are to provide a single point of entry into the Tribune's paper-and-ink channel, to make that channel seamless and efficient, to anticipate customer needs and to be a source of technology for the company. In a departure from the traditional model, Surkamer's group is also responsible for the operational side of circulation, which will allow "a responsive channel all the way to the home and the store."
Surkamer lives in Lake Forrest, Ill., with his wife, Judy, and their two children.
Malcolm Edge was appointed information systems director for The Blade, Toledo, Ohio. He was previously systems and programming manager for the Fort Wayne (Ind.) newspapers.
Leonard P. Forman has been appointed senior vice president for corporate development at The New York Times Co.
Paul Reese was named senior vice president of manufacturing and distribution for the Star Tribune, Minneapolis.
Paul Borkowski has been named district sales manager for MAN Roland, Westmont, Ill.
Dawn Van Breemen-Wilks was appointed vice president of operations at Dallas-based Newspaper Satellite Network.
Richard G. Canny was appointed technical service manager for Garden State Paper, Elmwood Park, N.J.
Kevin T. Clemente has been named senior vice president of Flexi-Tech, Albany, N.Y.
Jack Cormack was named manager of human resources for KBA-Motter, York, Pa.
Don Craig has joined St. Louis-based Western Lithotech as a technical sales rep.
Molly Crews becomes operations manager of GEAC Public Safety.
John Daly, previously with triple-I, has been named regional sales manager for Advanced Technical Solutions Inc., North Andover, Mass.
John Dawson was appointed national product manager for finishing systems at MAN Roland, Westmont, Ill.
Jim Dorociak and James A. Elter were named digital-imaging specialists for Pitman Co., Totowa, N.J.
Richard A. Drapeau, former production manager at The Hartford (Conn.) Courant, has been appointed customer-service rep for Garden State Paper Co., Elmwood Park, N.J.
Dennis Fall has been appointed field sales manager for the Midwest district of Konica Imaging USA, Glen Cove, N.Y.
James Frankiewicz has been named account representative for ECRM, Tewksbury, Mass.
Robert Heyer has been named vice president of Western region operations for Phoenix-based American Color.
Floyd Inman has been appointed regional sales manager for Orem, Utah-based Digital Technology International. Inman previously served as vice preisdent of sales for Monotype Inc.
Floyd Jones becomes marketing manager for York, Penn.-based KBA-Motter.
Bryan Light has been named field sales manager for the Southwest district at Konica Imaging USA, Glen Cove, N.Y.
Gary Muller has been named product manager for Andover, Mass.-based Cascade Systems Inc.
Jules Muller was appointed engineering manager for Garden State Paper Inc., Elmwood park, N.J.
Terry Ray has been appointed executive vice president and director of operations for Phoenix-based American Color.
Bill Reece has been appointed vice president of national field sales for Konica Imaging USA, Glen Cove, N.Y.
Marc R. Welch was named senior vice president of sales and marketing for American Color, Phoenix. He was previously with Scitex America as director of industry marketing.
Don Wooden has been appointed field sales manager of the Mid-Atlantic district for Konica Imaging USA, Glen Cove, N.Y.
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