👋 Meet our 40th market: Community Impact is expanding into the city of Bastrop this September with a new digital-first growth strategy, featuring the debut of a free Bastrop email newsletter and website, prior to delivering printed newspapers to all residents in spring 2024.
💡 Introducing CI Light: “For our Bastrop launch we decided to flip our expansion strategy on its head and test a digital-first model we are calling CI Light,” Community Impact’s Texas Group Publisher Traci Rodriguez said. “We love a good double entendre—CI Light means we want to shine a light on the community with high-quality, local journalism while also making a lighter investment using digital platforms to build our brand and make connections in the community, while helping build the foundation for the CI printed edition to follow.”
📰 Why Bastrop? Bastrop city officials first visited Community Impact headquarters several years ago, shortly after the company opened its new printing facility. They shared information about their booming community, their need for news coverage, and even listed preliminary advertiser support they had gained, knowing CI relies on this as opposed to traditional paid subscriptions. Fast-forward to 2023, and the expansion is set to be Community Impact’s 40th market.
Learn more about CI Light.
