What Sun Valley Guide does

Sun Valley Guide, operated by Express Publishing Inc., is a free quarterly regional magazine founded around 1986 and headquartered in Ketchum, Idaho. It serves the Wood River Valley — covering Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey, and Bellevue — distributing primarily to local residents, second homeowners, and visitors to the resort area. The publication is delivered four times a year at local businesses and bundled with Idaho Mountain Express newspaper subscriptions, with digital editions hosted on Issuu.

The core product is the Sun Valley Guide Magazine, covering local lifestyle, dining, recreation, arts, and community events. Two ancillary editorial products extend the brand: Habitat, a home and lifestyle edition focused on sustainable building and design, and Best of the Valley, an annual reader survey and awards issue (with 1,406 verified voters in 2015) that ranks local businesses and attractions. The company has no proprietary technology stack beyond standard publishing tools and the Issuu digital-edition platform, and its content operations are run by a small in-house team (Publisher Pam Morris, Editor-in-Chief Greg Foley, Art Director Tony Barriatua) supplemented by contributing writers and account executives.

The business model is advertising-funded: the magazine is free to readers and revenue is generated from display advertising in print and on the website. Distribution is the principal economic asset — claimed to be the largest of any locally produced magazine in the area — and is reinforced by an exclusive bundling arrangement with Idaho Mountain Express. There are no external investors, no disclosed financial figures, and no evidence of active scale-up initiatives beyond the existing product set.

Name

Sun Valley Guide

Legal name

Express Publishing Inc.

Website

https://svguide.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sun Valley Guide, published by Express Publishing Inc., is a free quarterly regional magazine serving residents, second homeowners, and visitors to the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area, with revenue generated primarily from print and digital advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ketchum

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Advertising: Revenue generated from advertising placements in the printed magazine and on the website. The publication accepts display advertising and web advertising.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sun Valley Guide is a free quarterly regional lifestyle magazine published by Express Publishing Inc., distributing to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area. The publication covers local dining, recreation, arts, community events, and regional features, and is supported by display and web advertising revenue. Complementary offerings include the Habitat home/lifestyle edition and the annual Best of the Valley reader survey.

Product overview

Sun Valley Guide is a free quarterly regional magazine published by Express Publishing Inc. serving the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area communities. The core product is the Sun Valley Guide Magazine, complemented by the Habitat home/lifestyle edition and the annual Best of the Valley reader survey. Digital editions are distributed through Issuu. The publication focuses on local lifestyle, dining, recreation, arts, community events, and regional history content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sun Valley Guide Magazine A free quarterly regional periodical covering Sun Valley, Idaho resort area communities (Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey, and Bellevue), featuring local lifestyle, dining, recreation, arts, and community events content intended for residents, second homeowners, and visitors.
• Habitat Magazine A home and lifestyle magazine covering sustainable building, interior design, gardening, and eco-friendly living topics for the Wood River Valley area, published as part of the Sun Valley Guide family.
• Best of the Valley Survey An annual reader poll and awards program celebrating the best local businesses, services, restaurants, and attractions in the Wood River Valley, with monitored and verified voting results.
• Digital Editions on Issuu Digital versions of the Sun Valley Guide, Habitat, and Best of the Valley editions delivered through the Issuu platform for online reading.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,406 participants in annual Best of the Valley survey

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Idaho Mountain ExpresscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSubscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express newspaper receive the Sun Valley Guide with their subscription, providing cross-promotion and expanded distribution for both publications.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Mammoth Magazine: Regional lifestyle publication covering the Mammoth Lakes / Eastern Sierra resort area in California, with content on recreation, dining, arts, and community. Direct comparable to Sun Valley Guide in format, audience, and advertiser base.
• Telluride Magazine: Quarterly lifestyle magazine for the Telluride, Colorado resort region, covering arts, recreation, dining, and community. Free or low-cost distribution to a similar affluent mountain resort community with overlapping audience profile.
• Jackson Hole Magazine: Regional lifestyle publication serving the Jackson Hole, Wyoming resort market, covering recreation, dining, arts, and community. Comparable free-distribution, advertiser-funded model targeting residents and second homeowners in a mountain resort area.
• Park City Magazine: Bimonthly lifestyle magazine for the Park City, Utah resort area covering recreation, dining, real estate, and community events. Closely matches Sun Valley Guide's free, advertising-supported, resort-community magazine format.
• Aspen Sojourner: Free quarterly lifestyle magazine covering the Aspen, Colorado resort area — dining, recreation, arts, and community events. Nearly identical business model to Sun Valley Guide: free distribution, advertising-supported, serving an affluent resort community with seasonal residents and visitors.
• Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine: Resort lifestyle publication serving the Vail and Beaver Creek communities in Colorado, focused on recreation, dining, real estate, and seasonal events. Same target audience and ad-supported quarterly magazine business model as Sun Valley Guide.
• Tahoe Quarterly: Quarterly lifestyle magazine covering the Lake Tahoe region, focused on recreation, real estate, dining, and mountain community culture. Closely comparable in publication cadence, content mix, and target audience to Sun Valley Guide.

Broad incumbents

• 5280 Magazine: Established monthly lifestyle magazine serving the Denver metro area. While broader in geographic scope and urban in orientation, it overlaps with Sun Valley Guide on advertiser categories (real estate, dining, recreation) and serves as a larger incumbent in the regional lifestyle media space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SunValleyGuide

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

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 Sun Valley Guide