Spanner

MARTINS FERRY — For Bellaire native James Spanner, the chance to manage his hometown newspaper was just the opportunity he’d been seeking.

Spanner, the current publisher of The Marietta Times in Marietta, Ohio, and News and Sentinel in Parkersburg, West Virginia, has been named the next general manager of The Times Leader, effective Sept. 1. He will succeed the newspaper’s current general manager Perry Nardo, who is retiring at the end of August.

In his new role, Spanner will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations of The Times Leader as it works to help lead communities throughout Eastern Ohio.

Spanner said the chance to return to the Upper Ohio Valley and lead his hometown newspaper — the newspaper he grew up reading — was just the opportunity he’d been seeking.

“I am both honored and excited to be taking on this role at The Times Leader,” Spanner said. “The Times Leader has a long-standing commitment to community leadership and involvement, and I plan to continue that tradition.”

Spanner’s 31-year career includes stops at several newspapers in the greater Ohio Valley region. A graduate of the former St. John High School in Bellaire and Ohio University, he began his career in 1993 as an advertising sales representative at The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register in Wheeling. He became advertising director of The Salem News in Salem, Ohio, in 1998, before assuming the same role in Parkersburg at the News and Sentinel. Spanner became publisher of The Marietta Times in 2002, and then, in 2008, took over leadership duties in Parkersburg as the publisher there.

He said he plans to be very active in the local community. While in Parkersburg, he served on the boards of the Parkersburg Rotary, the Parkersburg-Wood County Development Corp. and the Mid-Ohio Valley Chamber of Commerce. The chamber in 2012 named him Businessman of the Year for the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Spanner and wife Andrea have three adult children — Lindsey, Corey and Haley.