FARGO — In a move to consolidate printing operations, Forum Communications Co. announced Tuesday, Jan. 5, that printing of The Forum, The Jamestown Sun, Grand Forks Herald and Agweek newspapers will permanently move from The Forum building in downtown Fargo to the company’s printing plant in Detroit Lakes, Minn.
The change will happen over the next two months.
It will not affect on-time mail delivery of the newspapers, but readers may notice an impact on the inclusion of some news and sports stories in print because deadlines will be earlier. The online e-papers and websites will include more recent news and sports.
The closure of The Forum’s press operation will affect 21 full-time and 14 part-time employees. The shift in work from Fargo to Detroit Lakes will require the transfer or hire of eight full-time and 10 part-time employees to supplement existing staff in Detroit Lakes. All affected employees have been encouraged to consider positions in Detroit Lakes and other areas of the company.
“I would like to thank all of the employees that will be affected by this upcoming transition,” said Bill Rouse, Chief Operating Officer of Forum Communications. “Their commitment and dedication to the company is and has been greatly appreciated. We will commit to help all employees through the transition.”
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The consolidation of printing operations coincides with fewer printing days across the company and the shift of readers from print to digital delivery.
“Our ability to adapt and change is important to our business and will enable us to best serve the communities these newspapers represent,” Rouse said.
In December, the company announced it would close its printing plant in Red Wing, Minn., at the end of January. Previously, the company shuttered presses in Dickinson, Grand Forks, Jamestown and West Fargo, N.D.; Willmar and Worthington, Minn., and Mitchell, S.D.
Once the Fargo-to-Detroit Lakes consolidation is complete and the Red Wing facility is closed, Forum Communications will have five printing plants in three states: Duluth, Brainerd and Detroit Lakes in Minnesota; Sioux Falls in South Dakota; and a commercial plant in Fargo.
The commercial plant in northwest Fargo is not outfitted to print newspapers.
The Forum and its predecessor newspapers by various names have been printed in downtown Fargo since at least 1878.
