Jeff Rapsis

In the Summer of 2001, Jeff Rapsis, Jody Reece and Dan Szczesny put the final touches on the first issue of local, Manchester newsletter The Hippo Press.

"I wrote an article about good places to get a drink," recalls Jeff.

After working at the Keene Sentinel for a number of years, Jeff was approached by Reece and Szcensny about the idea of starting new publications for the Southern New Hampshire Area. Since that first issue, Hippo Press now owns subsidiaries in Nashua, Concord, Clairmont, Newport and has even extended its reach into Vermont.

The Hippo began it's life on the internet, created by Reece and Szcensny. "We [Reece and Szensny] met at the Nashua Radio Station, where I was doing some work," recalls Jeff, "They asked me if I wanted to come aboard. I said, 'sure', but we had to think of a business plan".

The original plan was sketched in a napkin at Manchester's Milly's Tavern. "We all agreed that the paper should be free," said Jeff, "we wanted everyone to have access to it. The money came from advertisers".

Robert Baines, then the mayor of Manchester, welcomed the business venture, but insisted that The Hippo change it's name to something more conventional. "We refused," said Jeff, "The Hippo was Jody's idea, but it really separated us from the crowd".

The Nashua edition of The Hippo was launched in 2004. In 2005, the Concord edition was created. The total circulation in 2007 was over 34,000 papers.

"It felt like we had nowhere to go but up," remembers Jeff, "it was all very exciting".

The following years would see more growth for The Hippo. "One of our best accomplishments was getting The York Independent," said Jeff. The York Independent is another New Hampshire paper with an annual circulation of up to 10,000.     

"After that, we had enough capital in our reserves to keep expanding,"  explained Jeff. The Hippo launched its biggest venture in 2009, a brand new paper called The Compass. The Compass covers the area in Eastern, NH made up by Newport, Clairmont, and into Springfield in Western, Vt.

"We had big hopes to break across state lines," said Jeff, "but the recession hurt everybody. We're still on our feet, though, and looking forward to the future".

Jeff spends his free time composing music for Silent Film, his lifelong passion, and teaching Media Writing and Journalism classes at UNH Manchester (this is how I know him).

"I like teaching," he says, "I want kids to be prepared to have the same opportunities I've had".