Western News & Info, Inc. moving headquarters up north

Amedia company born 37 years ago in Yuma plans to move to another Arizona town, but it’s definitely keeping some major roots in its hometown.

Western News & Info, Inc. expects to move its corporate office to Prescott Valley in January. Those offices are currently found at 1748 S. Arizona Ave. in Yuma, just down the street from another company with a shared history – the Yuma Sun.

The Soldwedel family owns the voting stock in Western News & Info, a privately-held company.

Today, the company owns 14 newspapers throughout the state, along with online news outlets and commercial printing operations. The roots the company plans to keep in Yuma include two local businesses that will remain under Western News & Info, Inc. They are Sign Pro and Del Outdoor Advertising. The latter operates 800 billboard faces throughout Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California.

The company is also a large shareholder in 1st Bank Yuma.

In 1984, the family sold its interests in the Yuma Daily Sun, as the newspaper was called then.

Blake Dewitt, senior vice president, says moving the corporate office is made necessary by the fact that Western News & Info owns newspapers as far away as the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff. A cluster of holdings can also be found in the Prescott Valley area.

“As time has gone by, our business demographics have shifted, out of Yuma to other areas,” Dewitt said, stressing that the company will never truly leave its hometown. “We are heavily invested in this community.” *** Yuma’s very own taco royalty did battle in another kingdom last weekend and came home with great treasure – first-place honors from a major, state-wide event.

Mannie and Danielle Harris, who were crowned Taco King and Salsa Queen during this year’s local Tacos and Tunes Festival, earned the first-place trophy for beef tacos during Arizona Taco Festival in Scottsdale. The couple owns Mad Tacos, which cooks up meals at the oldfashioned lunch counter inside Sant United Drug, 419 W. 8th St. in Yuma.

Mannie tells me that of the 47 teams that competed in Scottsdale, his was the only team from Yuma at the Arizona Taco Festival.