William Behan Named Senior Vice President, Labor Relations; Wendell Van Lare to Retire
McLEAN, VA – William A. Behan, vice president/labor relations since 2007, has been promoted to senior vice president, labor relations for Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), effective today. He will replace Wendell J. Van Lare who is retiring on April 30th after nearly 33 years with Gannett.
In his new role, Behan reports to Gracia Martore, president and chief operating officer, and joins the Gannett Management Committee which coordinates overall management policies for the company.
“Bill has been an invaluable member of Gannett’s labor relations team for 20 years. He knows our company and our people and is an outstanding leader. We could not be happier in having Bill assume the role Wendell filled so well for so many years. I look forward to working with both of them over the transition period until Wendell retires later this spring,” Martore said. “Wendell has made enormous contributions to our company for more than 30 years and we thank him for all he has done. We will miss him very much and wish him all the best in his retirement.”
Behan joined Gannett in 1990 as Attorney/Labor Relations and has served in progressively more challenging positions since then. Prior to joining Gannett, Behan practiced law in New Jersey with Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus and McMoran & Palmeri. He specialized in management labor relations. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his law degree from Seton Hall University Law Center.
Van Lare joined Gannett in 1977 as Assistant Director/Labor Relations. Prior to joining Gannett, he specialized in labor law at the Rochester, NY, law firm of Harter, Secrest, and Emery. He is a graduate of the State University College in New Paltz, NY, and received his law degree from Albany (NY) Law School of Union University, where he was an editor of the Albany Law Review. He was an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1970.
Gannett is an international news and information company operating on multiple platforms including the Internet, mobile, newspapers, magazines and TV stations. Gannett is an Internet leader with hundreds of newspaper and TV Web sites; CareerBuilder.com, the nation’s top employment site; USATODAY.com; and more than 80 local MomsLikeMe.com sites. Gannett publishes 83 daily U.S. newspapers, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper, and more than 650 magazines and other non-dailies including USA WEEKEND. Gannett also operates 23 television stations in 19 U.S. markets. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company with 17 daily paid-for titles, more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications, and a network of Web sites.
For media inquiries, contact:
Robin Pence
Vice President of Corporate Communications
(703) 854-6049
rpence@gannett.com
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Jeffrey Heinz
Director, Investor Relations
(703) 854-6917
jheinz@gannett.com