Granite appoints Burrell VP for sales, marketing

TAYLOR — A veteran advertising leader has joined Granite Media Partners Inc. as the new vice president of sales and marketing.

Shawn Burrell, a Texas native, started Sept. 5 and will be based at the 45-year-old company’s home office near Austin.

“I intend to bring leadership, support and vision while being a champion for our sales team,” Burrell said. “I am thrilled with the opportunity to help build Granite Media Partners to be the top source people think of when they need a powerful, robust marketing platform that delivers results.”

Burrell, 52, joins a three-member executive management team under the direction of President and CEO H. Daniel Philhower.

The other two managers are Vice President of Operations Valeri Stair and Vice President of Content Thomas Edwards.

Burrell will have oversight for all sales and marketing initiatives across the company, Philhower said.

“We are honored to have someone with such vast knowledge and expertise join our team as our VP of sales. Shawn will bring a strong sense of leadership, mentorship and coaching to our sales teams across all of our locations,” Philhower said.

Granite is a multi-platform news and marketing company with nearly 100 employees. It owns 10 Texas newspapers and five magazines,  maintains a dozen news websites, operates a printing press, produces independent online and social-media content and programming, offers digital delivery systems including specialized TV screens at select outlets and manages two client newspapers.

“Granite Media Partners is more than just a newspaper — we are a marketing firm with every platform available to our communities,” Philhower said. “Shawn will bring our locations focused-marketing strategies that are scalable and bring our advertising customers results. He will be tasked with partnering with our local marketing and sales teams, seeing local customers and developing local strategies for revenue growth.”

Adding Burrell and his unique skills to the company is part of Granite’s long-term growth strategy, Philhower added.

Granite continues to expand with the recent acquisition of the Austin County Insider, a quarterly magazine serving Sealy, Bellville, Wallis and other communities west of Houston.

“Granite Media Partners is poised for growth. With the completion of our executive management team, we can continue to focus on bringing quality content to our markets and growing our audience,” Philhower said. “Shawn will lead our sales and marketing teams and will create marketing solutions and grow revenue for each of our locations, opening the door for Granite to expand into new markets.”

Under the executive team, Granite is exploring opportunities to buy other community newspapers and localized magazines, as well as create new partnerships with radio and TV stations to become the “go-to” site for local content and marketing solutions, the CEO added.

Burrell, who was born in Austin but grew up in Arlington, most recently worked at Community Impact News in both sales and as a general manager for the company’s core publications in the capital area. He also ran his own consulting business.

His professional experience spans nearly two decades and includes serving as a regional sales manager for Clipper Magazine, billed as one of the country’s largest direct-mail advertising publications, when it was owned by Gannett.

Burrell said he is looking forward to working with his new colleagues.

“Granite Media Partners is a full-service marketing company with the assets to create multimedia campaigns,” he added. “I am excited to bring these offerings to businesses that have a product, service or an event to promote.”