Consultant offering grant to community newspapers for discounted newspaper design, redesign services

A South Carolina newspaper design consultant is offering a grant to offset the cost of his services for small, community newspapers, such as those served by the Center.

The Francis A. Henninger Grant is available now and can be used to pay for design and redesign services with Henninger Consulting.

The amount of the grant is determined by serveral criteria including ownership, staff size, publication frequency and circulatioin, said Ed Henninger, who runs Henninger Consulting.

Henninger told me earlier this week that like those of us at the Center, he has found commmunity journalists eager to learn, and always appreciative, which makes makes the grant program worth it for him. And some of you may know Henninger from conferences; he just spoke at a West Texas Press Association event in San Angelo.

For those who quality, Henninger said, he will charge an hourly rate for his services, which will be offset by the grant.

"The beauty of the program is that after I do a little bit of work with them, and once they've got somebody who can start replicating what I'm doing, they can just say 'Stop'," he said.

That means that some small newspapers have been able to use his redesign services for less than $1,000, he said. Henninger said the grant may also be used to offset smaller projects, such as a nameplate redesign.

His hourly rate varies, he said, depending on the amount of work that will be involved.

Anyone interested can contact Ed at edh@henningerconsulting.com or (803-325-5252). For more information, visit Hennigner's website at www.henningerconsulting.com.

Of course, you can always refer design questions to us at the center, either through our Ask an Expert feature or by using the Contact form.