The Valley Breeze

What The Valley Breeze does

The Valley Breeze is a privately held local newspaper publisher operating under OBW-Breeze, LLC, founded in 1996 and headquartered at 6 Blackstone Valley Place in Lincoln, Rhode Island. The company publishes three regional titles — The Valley Breeze, The Valley Breeze & Observer, and The North Providence Breeze — covering eight Northern Rhode Island communities including Cumberland, Lincoln, Woonsocket, North Smithfield/Blackstone, Smithfield, North Providence, and Pawtucket/Central Falls. It employs between 11 and 50 people and operates a multi-platform publishing model spanning weekly print editions, the valleybreeze.com digital news site, e-editions delivered via Uberflip, and a portfolio of segmented email newsletters (News Alerts, Weekly Best Of community digests, The Local Scoop, and a Sales & Marketing Newsletter).

The underlying technology stack is built on the BLOX Digital CMS platform, with integrations to Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager (programmatic display), Google reCAPTCHA, PostalAdmin for newsletter management, Donorbox for reader donations, and social widgets for Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram. The company monetizes through five distinct revenue streams: print and digital subscriptions, display/programmatic advertising, classifieds and public notices (transaction fees), an online merchandise store at shop.valleybreeze.com, and a reader membership/donation program. Distribution combines physical newspaper circulation with self-serve digital channels serving both individual consumers and local SMB advertisers. The core customer segment is Northern Rhode Island residents seeking hyperlocal coverage of school board votes, town budgets, community events, sports, obituaries, and small business news — content that larger regional outlets do not produce.

Name

The Valley Breeze

Legal name

OBW-Breeze, LLC d/b/a The Valley Breeze

Website

https://valleybreeze.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Valley Breeze is a privately held local newspaper publisher serving eight Northern Rhode Island communities with print editions, a digital news site, e-editions, and segmented newsletters, monetized through subscriptions, advertising, classifieds, e-commerce, and reader donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Community news coverage
• Digital news subscriptions
• Print classified advertising
• Hyperlocal journalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Lincoln

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Subscriptions: Subscription revenue from print and digital publication subscriptions, including e-editions via Uberflip.
2. Advertising: Display advertising, digital advertising through Google Ad Manager, programmatic ad networks, and sponsored content.
3. Classifieds and Paid Content: Revenue from classified ads, obituaries, public notices, and other paid content placements.
4. Online Store: E-commerce sales through shop.valleybreeze.com.
5. Membership Donations: Membership program accepting donations via Donorbox platform to support local journalism.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Valley Breeze is a hyperlocal newspaper publisher that produces a weekly print newspaper and a continuously updated digital news website covering Northern Rhode Island communities including Cumberland, Lincoln, Woonsocket, North Smithfield/Blackstone, Smithfield, North Providence, and Pawtucket/Central Falls. It supplements core news reporting with regional print editions (The Valley Breeze & Observer, The North Providence Breeze), digital e-editions, email newsletters, classifieds, public notices, a featured business directory, a merchandise storefront, and a reader-supported membership program.

Product overview

The Valley Breeze operates as a multi-platform local news publisher offering both digital and print products. The core offerings include The Valley Breeze digital news platform and print publication, along with regional variants The Valley Breeze & Observer and The North Providence Breeze. The company distributes content through digital newsletters (The Local Scoop, News Alerts, Weekly Best Of series), classifieds/public notices marketplace, a featured businesses directory, e-commerce store, and membership donation program. Content is also available as digital replicas (E-Editions) of print issues. The products serve Northern Rhode Island communities covering local news, sports, lifestyle, real estate, opinion, and obituaries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Valley Breeze & Observer: Regional newspaper edition covering Smithfield and West (The Observer) communities.
• The North Providence Breeze
• The Local Scoop

Products and services

• The Valley Breeze Digital News Platform (valleybreeze.com)

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Patch.com: National network of hyperlocal digital news sites, including active coverage of Rhode Island towns such as Cumberland, Lincoln, and Woonsocket. Directly competes with The Valley Breeze for digital local news readership and SMB advertising in the same communities.
• GoLocalProv: Digital-first local news outlet covering Rhode Island including Providence and Northern Rhode Island communities. Competes directly with The Valley Breeze for online local news readership and digital advertising in the same geography.
• The Westerly Sun: Family-owned local newspaper serving southwestern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut. A comparable small-market, privately held community newspaper operating a print + digital model similar to The Valley Breeze.

Others

• Nextdoor: Neighborhood-focused social network used heavily by the same Northern Rhode Island communities The Valley Breeze serves. Functions as a free, user-generated alternative for hyperlocal news and local business discovery, indirectly siphoning audience and SMB attention.

Broad incumbents

• The Providence Journal: Rhode Island's largest daily newspaper, owned by Gannett. Covers the same state including the Valley Breeze's footprint but at a regional/statewide scale rather than hyperlocal, competing for the same reader attention and SMB advertising dollars.
• WPRI 12 (CBS): Local television news station serving Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Competes for the same local news audience and local advertising market as The Valley Breeze across its covered communities, though delivered via broadcast rather than print/digital.
• Gannett LocaliQ: Digital marketing arm of Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper chain, which owns the Providence Journal. Competes for SMB digital advertising spend in the same Northern Rhode Island market that The Valley Breeze monetizes.

Regional players

• Rhode Island Monthly: Regional lifestyle magazine covering Rhode Island, including dining, real estate, and community features that overlap with The Valley Breeze's Lifestyle and The Local Scoop newsletter content. A regional player in adjacent content verticals.
• Providence Business News: Regional business publication covering Rhode Island's business community. Adjacent in coverage of local government, real estate, and SMB activity that The Valley Breeze also reports on, competing for similar advertiser categories in the same region.
• Boston Globe: Major regional daily covering greater New England, including some Northern Rhode Island readership. Operates a digital subscription model analogous to The Valley Breeze's digital subscription offering and competes for some cross-border advertisers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thevalleybreeze
• Facebookfacebook.com/the-valley-breeze-newspapers-117345161623616
• Instagraminstagram.com/the_valley_breeze
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-valley-breeze

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Valley Breeze