Niagara Frontier Publications
Niagara Frontier Publications is a newspaper publishing company located in Grand Island, New York. NFP is owned and operated by Skip and Judy Mazenauer of Grand Island and publishes four weekly community newspapers: the Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, Lewiston Porter Sentinel, Grand Island PennySaver and Island Dispatch.
The Island Dispatch was founded in 1944 by Ollie Howard. It was originally a bi-weekly paper with a one-year subscription price of just two dollars. The Grand Island PennySaver was launched in 1950 by Art and Dorothy Mazenauer and was one of the first pennysavers in Western New York. In the mid-1960s, the Dispatch became an official newspaper in Erie County and over the next 12 years, it changed hands six times. The paper was purchased by current publisher Skip Mazenauer in 1978 so that Grand Island would not be without a local newspaper. Already publishing the PennySaver, which he had purchased from his parents, Mazenauer added the Dispatch to create Niagara Frontier Publications. NFP’s success on Grand Island in Erie County led to the addition of the Niagara Wheatfield Tribune in Niagara County in 1985.
The Lewiston Porter Sentinel began in 1987 as the result of several Western New York newspapers submitting proposals to the Lewiston Business Association to create a weekly community newspaper for Lewiston, N.Y. Due to its superior coverage of the local areas, NFP’s proposal won over the other publishing groups in Western New York. True to his word, GLBPA President Sam Sperazza backed the new publication from the start. On Valentine's Day of 1987, NFP's fourth paper debuted, but did not yet have a name. A "Name Your Newspaper" contest was held and the Lewiston Porter Sentinel was born, rounding out NFP’s coverage of northern Erie and western Niagara counties.
Under the leadership of Mazenauer and his staff, NFP has been instrumental in helping the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce to create the Grand Island Citizen of the Year and Property Improvement awards and to publish early editions of the Grand Island telephone book and tourist maps. Ever community-minded, NFP continues to work with the surrounding towns and villages to promote local events by co-sponsoring their marketing. Examples include Lewiston’s Harvest Festival, Christmas Walk and Peach Festival.
NFP has more than 20 full- and part-time employees at its office at 1859 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island. The company also employs many free-lance writers and photographers, as well as more than 40 independent newspaper carriers. NFP’s publications, the Tribune, Sentinel and Dispatch, are the official papers of the towns and villages they serve.
Over the years, NFP has received numerous awards for editorial content and marketing creativity, including several from the New York Press Association. In 2002, Niagara Frontier Publications and the Lewiston Porter Sentinel were selected by the GLBPA to receive the Morgan Lewis Partnership Award, named after the founder of Lewiston, for its contributions to the Lewiston community. NFP was honored by the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce as the 2005 Business of the Year at the 40th annual Citizen of the Year banquet. In 2006, the company was also honored by the Lower Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce for excellence in community-focused journalism. In the dedication of its 2006 membership directory to the owners and staff of NFP, the LNRRCC proclaimed of NFP, “Their dedicated efforts have helped to instill pride in the residents and leadership of the River Region and played a major role in the success of our events and festivals.”
Managing Editor/Sentinel Editor Terry Duffy, Dispatch Editor Larry Austin, Tribune Editor Sue Campbell and Editorial/production Coordinator Joshua Maloni headline the NFP writing staff.