The Coastal Star

What The Coastal Star does

The Coastal Star is a monthly community newspaper founded in 2008 that serves the coastal communities of South Florida's Palm Beach County. It publishes hyper-local news, features, and advertising targeting small municipalities along the Atlantic coast, operating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit journalism organization headquartered in Ocean Ridge, Florida with 11–50 employees under Publisher Jerry Lower.

The publication's core product is a monthly print newspaper supplemented by digital editions segmented into two regional sub-products: Coastal Delray Beach & North and Coastal Boca Raton & Highland Beach. Its digital presence is built on the Ning.com community platform, which hosts 6,270+ members organized into 12 neighborhood-focused community groups, providing a persistent engagement channel beyond the monthly print cycle. The editorial team includes an Executive Editor (Mary Kate Leming), an Editor (Larry Barszewski), two Managing Editors (Mary Thurwachter and Steve Plunkett), and an Advertising Director (Chris Bellard).

Revenue is generated through three concurrent streams: paid print and digital subscriptions to individual readers in the coastal footprint, advertising sales to local small and mid-sized businesses, and charitable donations enabled by the nonprofit 501(c)(3) status. The business model is therefore a hybrid consumer-subsidy-and-philanthropy structure rather than a pure advertising-supported or paywalled digital publication. Geographic focus is tightly bounded to the Palm Beach County coastal corridor, with no disclosed expansion beyond the two established regional editions.

Name

The Coastal Star

Legal name

The Coastal Star

Website

https://thecoastalstar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Coastal Star is a monthly nonprofit community newspaper serving South Florida's Palm Beach County coastal communities, delivering hyper-local news across two regional editions with print, digital, and a 6,270+ member community platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Community newspaper
• Local journalism
• Hyperlocal news
• Digital publishing
• Community platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Palm Beach

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Monthly newspaper subscriptions delivered physically and digitally to residents of South Florida coastal communities
2. Advertising: Local advertising sales through an Advertising Director, targeting businesses in coastal South Florida communities
3. Donations/Nonprofit Fundraising: Donations accepted through a nonprofit journalism fund, a 501(c)(3) organization to support community journalism

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Coastal Star publishes a monthly community newspaper and operates a digital community platform serving South Florida's coastal neighborhoods, including Ocean Ridge, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Highland Beach, and surrounding areas. The publication delivers local news, announcements, classifieds, event listings, business spotlights, and member-driven community discussions, distributed both in print and via a Ning-based online platform.

Product overview

The Coastal Star operates as a community-focused local newspaper with a digital presence built on the Ning platform. The core offering is its monthly newspaper covering South Florida coastal communities. The product portfolio includes the print/digital newspaper publication, digital archive editions organized by geographic coverage area (Coastal Delray Beach & North and Coastal Boca Raton & Highland Beach), and a community website platform featuring member profiles, discussion forums, photo sharing, and 12 localized community groups for specific neighborhoods. A Media Kit is also offered for advertising inquiries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Coastal Star Newspaper A monthly community newspaper covering South Florida coastal communities including South Palm Beach, Hypoluxo Island, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream, Highland Beach, and coastal neighborhoods of Delray Beach and Boca Raton, delivered in print and digital formats to subscribers.
• Digital Editions Online digital editions of the newspaper including Coastal Delray Beach & North and Coastal Boca Raton & Highland Beach editions, accessible to subscribers and readers.
• Community Groups 12 localized community groups covering Across the Bridge, Beach Watch, Boca Raton, Briny Breezes, Delray Beach, Gulf Stream, Highland Beach, Lantana, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, South Palm Beach, and Surf Pocket, enabling neighborhood-specific discussions and engagement for members.
• Media Kit Advertising information package available for download for businesses interested in placing advertising with The Coastal Star, detailing advertising opportunities and rates.

Segments1 record

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.

• Ning.comcoreTechnology or IntegrationPlatform provider powering The Coastal Star's website, member management, community forums, and content management system. Ning.com provides the underlying social network infrastructure for the publication's online presence.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Coastal Observer: Weekly community newspaper covering Hilton Head Island and the South Carolina Lowcountry coast — operates the same hyper-local coastal-community newspaper model with similar subscriptions, advertising, and community-engagement flywheel.
• Delray Beach Magazine: Local magazine serving Delray Beach and nearby coastal communities — same South Florida coastal market, similar print-and-digital content cadence, and overlapping small-business advertising inventory.
• Jupiter Courier Newsweekly: Community newspaper serving Jupiter and northern Palm Beach County — overlaps with The Coastal Star's South Florida coastal coverage and competes for similar affluent-coastal subscribers and advertisers.
• The Island Packet: Daily community newspaper serving Hilton Head Island and Beaufort County, SC — operates a nearly identical coastal-community newspaper model (local news + community engagement + subscriptions + advertising).
• The Boca Raton Observer: Monthly local magazine/newspaper covering Boca Raton and surrounding communities — same print cadence, same South Florida coastal geography, and competing for the same residential and small-business advertising base.

Emerging players

• Patch.com: National hyper-local digital news network that has launched Florida-specific editions — competes for the same digital local-news audience and small-business advertisers with a pure-digital, no-print model.
• TAPinto: Network of franchised hyper-local online newspapers in New Jersey and other states — comparable franchise/local-publisher digital news model that targets the same underserved small-community audience The Coastal Star serves in print.

Broad incumbents

• South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Large regional daily covering Broward and Palm Beach counties — same South Florida geography and a major source of broader local news that historically under-served the small coastal municipalities The Coastal Star targets.
• Miami Herald: Flagship regional daily covering South Florida including Palm Beach County — broadest incumbent competitor in regional news with deep editorial resources but limited hyper-local coastal-community focus.
• The Palm Beach Post: Major regional daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County — competes for advertising and readers in the same geography but covers a much wider area including inland communities; a broader incumbent in the same local news category.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheCoastalStar
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-coastal-star

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 The Coastal Star