The Progress News

What The Progress News does

The Progress News is a privately held weekly newspaper serving Emlenton, Pennsylvania and the surrounding Allegheny-Clarion Valley (AC Valley) region. The publication covers local news, sports, entertainment, community events, obituaries, engagements, weddings, and classifieds, with an 11-50 employee range and a single headquarters at 410 Main Street, Emlenton, PA. It operates under the trade name "My Progress News" and distributes content through a weekly print edition, a comprehensive website (myprogressnews.com), native iOS and Android mobile applications, an RSS feed, an email breaking news subscription service, and a Facebook page. The product portfolio has expanded beyond traditional print journalism to include a business directory, online classifieds, coupons and weekly specials, a wine-dine-drink restaurant guide, local attractions and parks coverage, and a digital archive of current and past issues.

The underlying technology stack is built on a published website (hosted on Wix) and native mobile applications backed by AWS infrastructure, with third-party integrations including Google Maps API and Google Places API for location services, Flurry Analytics and Google Analytics for usage tracking, and Facebook and Twitter for social sharing. A "Report It" module enables user-generated content submission (news tips, photos, videos) for editorial review. The platform does not expose a public API and does not document any AI/ML capabilities.

The company's revenue model rests on four streams: print and digital advertising (display ads, sponsorships, featured listings) from local businesses; paid classifieds (automotive, real estate, employment, personal listings); recurring business directory listings for local SMBs; and breaking news email subscriptions. The mobile apps are free to download. Specific pricing, rate cards, and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. The customer base is split between local Emlenton and AC Valley residents (community news consumers) and local small businesses (advertisers and directory clients).

Name

The Progress News

Legal name

The Progress News

Website

https://www.myprogressnews.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Progress News is a privately held weekly newspaper serving Emlenton, PA and the Allegheny-Clarion Valley, delivering local news, sports, obituaries, classifieds, and community information through print, a website, iOS and Android apps, and email, with revenue from local advertising, directory listings, and classifieds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Alternative/Independent Newsweeklies & Opinion Press (MPAJADAH)

Keywords

• Local news publishing
• Community newspaper
• Digital news media
• Local advertising
• Classifieds publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Emlenton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Advertising: Local businesses advertise through display ads, sponsorships, and featured listings in the newspaper and on the website
2. Classifieds: Paid classified advertisements including automotive, real estate, employment, and personal listings
3. Business Directory Listings: Paid listings for local businesses in the online business directory
4. Subscription Revenue: Breaking news email subscription service for readers seeking timely local updates

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Progress News operates as a weekly local newspaper and digital news platform serving Emlenton, PA and the surrounding Allegheny-Clarion Valley region. It delivers local news coverage, obituaries, community events, classifieds, business directory listings, restaurant guides, and local attraction information through its print edition, website, and native iOS/Android mobile applications.

Product overview

The Progress News (operating as My Progress News) is a digital-first local news platform serving Emlenton, PA and surrounding areas. The core offering consists of a comprehensive website and native mobile applications (iOS/Android) that deliver local news coverage, community information, and commerce features. The product portfolio includes the main news platform integrated with RSS syndication, a business directory, classifieds, digital newspaper archives (current and past issues), coupon/specials listings, restaurant and attraction guides, and breaking news email alerts. The platform uses third-party integrations including Google Maps, Flurry Analytics, Google Analytics, Facebook, and Twitter to deliver location services, usage analytics, and social sharing capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• My Progress News Website
• My Progress News Mobile Application
• Business Directory
• Classifieds
• Wine-Dine-Drink Restaurant Directory
• Coupons and Weekly Specials
• Local Attractions and Parks Guide
• Breaking News Email Alerts

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Google Maps APIcoreTechnology or IntegrationGoogle Maps API integration for mapping functionality and turn-by-turn directions within the mobile application. Users agree to be bound by Google's Terms of Service, Maps Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy.
• Google Places APIcoreTechnology or IntegrationGoogle Places API integration for access to Google Places data for Best Of apps feature within the mobile application.
• Amazon Web ServicescoreTechnology or IntegrationAWS infrastructure services supporting the mobile application backend and hosting.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Derrick: Daily/online newspaper serving Oil City and the broader Venango County, PA region. Directly comparable small-market western Pennsylvania local news operation with overlapping geography, similar SMB advertising base, and parallel multi-channel print-plus-digital model.
• The Clarion County News: Weekly community newspaper covering Clarion County, PA — directly adjacent to the AC Valley served by The Progress News. Closely comparable in scale, weekly print cadence, local SMB advertising model, and rural Pennsylvania community focus.
• The Butler Eagle: Daily newspaper serving Butler County, PA, with a strong digital/website presence and local advertising base. Comparable as a small-to-mid Pennsylvania community news outlet with a similar SMB advertiser and community-information product mix.
• The Bradford Era: Daily newspaper serving Bradford, PA and McKean County. Comparable small-market Pennsylvania publisher with a long-running print edition, digital site, and local advertising + subscription revenue model.
• The Kane Republican: Weekly community newspaper covering the Kane, PA area in rural McKean County. Closely comparable in cadence (weekly), community scale, and local advertising-driven business model serving small Pennsylvania towns.
• The Ridgway Record: Weekly newspaper serving Ridgway and Elk County, PA — a similarly small rural Pennsylvania market. Directly comparable weekly cadence, local SMB advertiser base, and community-information product offering.

Broad incumbents

• Ogden Newspapers: Family-owned group publishing numerous small and mid-sized community newspapers across Pennsylvania and the Midwest. Operates broadly in the same small-market local news space, with portfolio-level scale advantages in printing, ad sales, and shared digital infrastructure.
• Lee Enterprises: Large U.S. newspaper group operating dozens of daily and weekly community titles, including several in Pennsylvania. Overlaps with The Progress News as a competitor in local SMB advertising markets and as a likely acquirer in the rural weekly segment.
• CNHI (Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.): Group publisher of community and small-market newspapers across the U.S. Direct overlap in the small-market weekly newspaper category and a realistic consolidator of independent local titles like The Progress News.

Emerging players

• Patch.com: Digital-first hyperlocal news network operating thousands of community-level sites across the U.S. Competes with The Progress News for local digital readership and SMB advertising in the AC Valley region, with a fundamentally different (purely digital, no print) cost structure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/MyProgressLocalNews
• Xx.com/progressnews

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Progress News