Turley Publications’
president receives SBA national award
In April, Publisher and President Patrick H. Turley and his wife, Ann, traveled to Washington, D.C., to accept the Phoenix Award for Small Business Disaster Recovery, a national award from the U.S. Small Business Association. The 12-foot surge of the Quaboag River on Oct. 15, 2005, caused more than $900,000 in property damage to his business. The company’s entire production and newsroom floor was destroyed by six feet of floodwaters, and most of the printing plant was under three feet of water. The company’s delivery truck fleet was also ruined. In the face of so much destruction, Turley Publications — which publishes 15 weekly community newspapers and three monthly national publications, and includes a large commercial printing division — could have stopped the presses forever. The company’s 230 employees could have been searching for new jobs. Instead, the recovery effort began quickly, and no employees lost their jobs because of the flood. According to Small Business Association Administrator Steven Preston, the association bestows the Phoenix Award to those who have “displayed tremendous courage and selflessness in the midst of the most devastating disasters ever experienced” by the agency. The association describes the Phoenix as an award for “heroic efforts” and as “a token of appreciation” for those who have supported physical and economic recovery efforts after a disaster. Turley was quick to note, however, that he did not accomplish the recovery alone. From the time the water started pouring in, so did the help. “The credit goes to all the folks here, and there were a lot of them,” Turley said. “They were fabulous, and I’ll never forget it.” With employees pitching in to start the cleanup process, the presses were up and running and deadlines met within about 48 hours from when flooding first began. Following the flood, while the entire production and newsroom departments were rebuilt from scratch, employees worked for six months elbow-to-elbow in a chilly workspace, in conditions Turley called “impossible.” “I’ll never forget that,” he said. The kindness and concern shown by the firefighters, political leaders, town officials, other area business owners, friends, and townspeople were a “huge” help at the time, Turley said. People sent pizza and other food and offered help. “The flood reinforced my belief that people are basically good,” said Turley. “It was all about how good people were and that’s what helped sustain us. It was genuine. They really cared.” “But high water didn’t stop Patrick Turley from tackling the job that needed to be done,” Neal wrote. “He decided he wasn’t going to miss a deadline. Dedicated employees helped with the cleanup, electricity was restored, and two daily university newspapers were printed on time. Turley received an SBA disaster loan, and within five months the plant was running once more at full capacity.” Turley Publications was founded in 1962 when Patrick Turley and his brother Thomas A. Turley purchased the Palmer Journal and Monson Register newspapers. Forty-five years later, the company is owned and operated by Patrick Turley with his sons Keith and Doug. And just a year and a half after the flood, Patrick Turley can speak of the positive aspect of the flood. “In the end, our company is better off for that flood,” Turley said. “I’m wiser, and the company is stronger.” |
Instead,
the family owned and operated business — one of New England’s
largest printers of community and university newspapers — is alive
and well.
