After adding North Carolina weekly the Chatham News & Record earlier this year, independently-owned North State Media has now moved to print its own publications.

Established in Raleigh by Neal Robbins in 2016, the group publishes the North State Journal, which it says is North Carolina’s only statewide newspaper.

Now, after acquiring the building and land late last year, it has bought the McClatchy Company’s printing assets in Research Drive, Charlotte through the newly-formed Charlotte Publishing Company.

The plant was built in 1982 to print the Wall Street Journal and was acquired in 2013 by McClatchy, printing the Charlotte Observer and other McClatchy newspapers.

Robbins says the addition of printing capabilities strengthens North State Journal’s position as a leader in print newspapers in the south. “The long-term viability of North Carolina’s independent press requires high quality printing, and the Charlotte facility is second to none.”

The facility will maintain its status as a hub for regional and national newspapers.

Flagship weekly the North State Journal has local editions for Chatham, Forsyth, Hoke, Moore, Randolph and Stanly counties.

Industry veteran William King – previously a regional vice president with McClatchy – has been named as chief operating officer of Charlotte Publishing, with Trip Hoffend as senior vice president.

Hoffend said in the group’s NSOnline as “committed to helping the newspaper industry thrive in the Carolinas.

“We are looking forward to… engaging newspapers of all sizes in our region to produce print products of the highest quality,” he said.

Robbins will serve as president of the Charlotte Publishing Company.

Robbins was formerly of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and according to Wikipedia, credits DENR secretary John Skvarla as the inspiration for the newspaper being in print.

Last year the North State Journal collected 19 awards from the North Carolina Press Association including third place for general excellence in the small weekly category, an award it had previously won in 2018 and 2020.

North State Media bought Chatham Media Group from Kirk Bradley, Chris Ehrenfeld and Bill Horner III in May, less than five years after they acquired the Chatham News and Chatham Record from the Resch family in October 2018. 

Pictured (from left): King, Robbins and Hoffend at the print facility in Charlotte.