DAPHEALTH VOLUNTEER, MAJOR DONOR… AND NOW, BOARD MEMBER BY JIM MACAK
As both a volunteer and major donor for the last 30 years, Mark Adams remembers when DAP Health was known as Desert AIDS Project. “The organization’s always been a trailblazer,” he says. “It’s always had a desire to grow while continuing to provide on behalf of the underserved, the needy, the poor. I have a lot of respect for the board and the directions it’s taken over the years.” This great respect for the board is partly what prompted Adams to take a seat on it in June 2024. “I’ve really enjoyed being involved in DAP Health from the outside for all of these years,” he maintains. “But in talking to members of the board — and to CEO David Brinkman — a very compelling case was made for me to become a member. And so, I did! It’s high time I put in the hours of service and answered the call of duty.” “Speaking on behalf of my fellow directors, I can say we couldn’t be more excited to welcome Mark onto our very hardworking board,” says longtime Board Chair Patrick Jordan. “Thanks to the very successful businesses he runs, he brings a breadth of experience in many sectors. All that in addition to the fact that, through his philanthropic family, he was brought up with the mindset of always giving back to one’s community.” Adams spent his first 12 months observing. “I wanted to take it all in,” he says, adding that that’s how figured out how best to make a major, lasting difference. “My background is in finance. Financial security has always been important to DAP Health, but now, with our recent expansion, that’s even more crucial going forward. I currently sit on the finance committee, and I think that’s where I can make the greatest impact.” A MEDIA DYNASTY Like DAP Health, in recent decades, Adams — who, as one newspaper put it, is part of a third-generation media family — has also undergone a significant evolution.
Once upon a time, Grandfather Cedric was a newspaper columnist with a popular radio show and a lucrative sideline voicing radio and TV ads. But neither Cedric’s son nor grandsons started out following in his footsteps. Mark’s father, Stephen, made his fortune running outdoor advertising companies, community banks, and a network of RV dealers that sold camping equipment. For 20 years, Adams worked for a private equity firm specializing in media. Then, about a decade ago, he and his father decided to found Adams Publishing Group, which currently owns some 35 daily newspapers, more than 100 non-dailies (weeklies, bi-weeklies, etc.), and other media-related products and websites in 19 states. “Newspapers were really struggling at that time,” remarks Adams, who serves as APG’s co-founder, president, and CEO. “We decided this was an area that needed some help. We thought we could make a difference. And it was just him and me until a couple of years ago, when his health began to decline. Eventually, my brothers and I bought him out.” Despite The New York Times recently reporting that traditional media’s collapse “seems to be accelerating,” Adams claims this hasn’t affected APG, what with the company’s focus on small-city publications. “It’s still a very challenged industry,” he admits, “but I would say smaller-community newspapers are in much better health than big-city newspapers, where there’s so much competition with broadcast television, bloggers, and websites.” In 2018, the Poynter Report — a newsletter issued by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida — reported that “in contrast with other big consolidators, they [APG] often leave existing management in place, do not impose cookie-cutter content templates, and do not start by stripping down newsrooms of editors and reporters.” Adams reveals this is still APG’s approach. APG’s corporate headquarters are in a suburb of Minneapolis,
34 THESTANDARDPS.COM