Town Square Publications

What Town Square Publications does

Town Square Publications is a custom publishing group operating as a division of Daily Herald Media Group, which is owned by Paddock Publications, a Midwest media entity with over 100 years of experience in print product development. Headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois, with approximately 28 employees, the company produces high-quality print and digitally integrated publications on behalf of chambers of commerce and membership-based organizations. The company serves chamber clients across all four major U.S. regions (Midwest, Northeast, South, and West), with a documented operating presence in 17 or more states.

The company's core product portfolio consists of five primary offerings. Welcome Home is a new-mover direct mail program that delivers marketing messages monthly to new residents for an entire year. Print Publications are customized four-color glossy magazines and community maps. Digital Publications are powered by ChamberVu, the company's proprietary platform with graphic animation, tap-to-read functionality, video integration, clickable links, SEO indexing, and QR-code accessibility. Print Maps are full-color community advertising maps, while Digital Chamber Maps provide interactive searchable directories. The 'Communities on the Move' digital eBooks platform rounds out the product suite.

Town Square Publications monetizes through a partnership-based revenue model in which the company produces custom publications and shares advertising revenue with chambers via royalty and non-dues revenue share arrangements. Chambers function as both clients and distribution channels, distributing publications through their member networks and at community hubs such as libraries, park districts, and village halls. The company's primary go-to-market channel is its ACCE (American Chamber of Commerce Executives) partnership, supplemented by its website, flipbook media kits, and direct sales outreach. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with multi-year contract structures typical for chamber clients.

Name

Town Square Publications

Legal name

Town Square Publications

Website

https://townsquarepublications.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Town Square Publications is a custom publishing division of Daily Herald Media Group that produces print and digital publications for U.S. chambers of commerce, helping them generate non-dues advertising revenue through royalty partnerships and new-mover marketing programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Publishing Services

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312), Periodical Publishers (513120), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB), Magazine & Newspaper Subscriptions / Delivery Retail (CRALAAAH)

Keywords

• Custom publishing services
• Chamber publications
• Community print magazines
• New mover marketing
• Non-dues revenue

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Non-Dues Revenue Publishing: Town Square Publications helps chambers of commerce create non-dues revenue streams through advertising sales in printed and digital publications. The company shares revenue with chambers through royalty and non-dues revenue share arrangements.
2. Print Publications: Customized four-color glossy magazines and community maps sold to chamber members and local businesses for advertising and promotional purposes.
3. Welcome Home New Mover Program: Monthly direct mail marketing program delivered to new residents for an entire year, sold exclusively to chamber members as a high-impact advertising tool.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Town Square Publications is a custom publishing group that produces high-quality print and digitally integrated publications for chambers of commerce and membership-based organizations. Its core offerings include customized four-color glossy magazines, full-color community maps, digital publications powered by the ChamberVu platform, and a new mover direct mail marketing program (Welcome Home), all structured around helping chambers generate non-dues revenue while providing member businesses with visibility and advertising opportunities.

Product overview

Town Square Publications is a custom publishing group that operates as a division of the Daily Herald Media Group (Paddock Publications). The company offers a portfolio of print and digitally integrated publications and marketing products designed for chambers of commerce and membership-based organizations. Their core product suite includes: (1) Welcome Home, a new mover direct mail marketing program; (2) Print Publications, customized four-color glossy magazines and community maps; (3) Digital Publications powered by ChamberVu platform with interactive features including video, animation, and QR codes; (4) Print Maps, full-color community advertising maps; and (5) Digital Chamber Maps providing interactive community directories. These products work together to help chambers generate non-dues revenue while providing member businesses with visibility and networking opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ChamberVu: Digital publication platform with tap-to-read functionality, video integration, and social media engagement
• Welcome Home
• Communities on the Move

Products and services

• Welcome Home

Quantifiable outcome

• Top of Virginia Regional Chamber has over 800 members served
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 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

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Daily Herald Media Group / Paddock PublicationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTown Square Publications is a division of Daily Herald Media Group, owned by Paddock Publications. This parent company relationship provides over 100 years of print publishing experience, established customer service infrastructure, and direct distribution capabilities throughout the Midwest.

Scale indicators2 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Adams Publishing Group: Multi-title community newspaper and media group with chamber publication arms. Competes in adjacent local advertising and publishing categories with Town Square's chamber magazine and community map products, though it operates more broadly across news media.
• MemberClicks (by Personify): Association and chamber management software platform. Serves the same chamber-of-commerce customer base and provides member engagement, communications, and directory tools that compete with Town Square's digital publication and community directory offerings.
• Google Maps Business Profiles: Google's free/paid local business listing and discovery platform. Functions as a digital substitute for Town Square's printed community maps and chamber directories, capturing local business advertising spend that might otherwise flow to chamber publications.
• ChamberMaster (by GrowthZone): SaaS chamber management platform that handles membership, events, and communications for chambers of commerce. While not a publishing competitor, it overlaps in serving the same chamber customer base and increasingly offers member-engagement and communication features that compete for chamber non-dues budgets.
• Yelp: Dominant digital local business directory and discovery platform. Competes for the same small-business advertising dollars that Town Square's chamber publications depend on, and increasingly serves the same new-resident discovery use case as the company's print maps and digital directories.

Direct peers

• Magnolia Media: Custom publishing company producing chamber and community magazines. Comparable in offering print and digital publications to chambers of commerce and membership organizations.
• Convention Publications: A direct competitor producing custom magazines and visitor guides for chambers of commerce and convention & visitors bureaus. Closely aligned in product offering, target customer (chambers/CVBs), and recurring advertising-driven revenue model.
• Blanchard Media: Custom publisher of chamber magazines, business journals, and community publications. Competes with Town Square for the same chamber-of-commerce customer segment with similar recurring advertising revenue model.
• TigerPress Media: Custom publisher producing community magazines and guides for chambers of commerce across the U.S. Directly competes with Town Square in producing chamber-branded print and digital publications.

Emerging players

• Pinnacle Publishing: Regional custom publisher of chamber and community magazines with overlapping product offerings. Comparable in business model and target segment though typically operating at a smaller regional scale than Town Square's four-region footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/town-square-publications

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 Town Square Publications