(Richfield, Ohio) – Longtime golf industry journalist and magazine executive Pat Jones has been appointed Publisher and Editorial Director of Golf Course Industry magazine, a GIE Media publication.

Jones will lead all aspects of the magazine’s content, sales and marketing in print and online. “Pat is uniquely prepared to take Golf Course Industry to an entirely new level in the golf and turf management market,” said Chris Foster, GIE’s Chief Operating Officer. “He is quite simply the most experienced and respected writer and observer in the business.”

Jones has been in leading positions in the golf course management industry for nearly 25 years. For the past five years, he operated Flagstick LLC, a strategic consulting and research firm specializing in companies selling products to golf course superintendents and other professional turf managers. Prior to that, he launched and ran Golfdom magazine and served on the staff of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

Jones is a 1984 graduate of the University of Kansas. He lives in Rocky River, Ohio.

To learn more about the magazine, visit www.golfcourseindustry.com.

Established in 1980, GIE Media, Inc. has grown from one publication into a leading marketing and communications business-to-business media company serving eight industries. The company goal of Group Interest Enterprises is to publish the highest quality business magazines, websites, e-newsletters, conferences, reference books and other forms of business media in growth industries, with a quality standard based upon editorial value and market leadership.
GIE Media, Inc is headquartered in Richfield, Ohio and is privately owned by its founder Richard Foster. The company currently employs over 100 editors, publishers, sales representatives, marketers and other professionals.

Richfield, OH – GIE Media, Inc. is proud to announce its recognition by Publishing Executive’s magazine as the top company in its annual ranking of the "Best Magazine Publishing Companies to Work For." The ranking evaluated confidential employee surveys examining workplace experience and company culture, and reviewed company benefits and corporate policies to determine the top 10 publishing companies nationwide.

As reported in Publishing Executive’s November issue, "The companies that made the list this year create environments where employees are valued and respected professionally, but they also work to help enhance employees’ personal lives."

Founded in 1980 by Richard Foster, GIE employs over 100 media professionals with offices in Richfield, Ohio as well as Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, Virginia Beach, VA., and Fort Worth. With the recent purchase of Branch-Smith Publishing, GIE is active in some 17 major national and international industries through print and digital trade magazines, Web sites and interactive media, conferences and tradeshows, reference books and directories, and market databases.

As to why he thinks GIE Media is a great place to work, President and CEO Christopher W. Foster explained, "GIE Media treats people fairly in their professional and personal lives . . . The company benefits are such that it is truly is in everyone’s interest to succeed. The culture of management does not waiver from its commitment to being a small company interested in every detail of employees' business and personal lives."

The "Best Magazine Publishing Companies to Work For" is a project conducted by Publishing Executive in conjunction with the Best Companies Group, an independent research firm that specializes in finding and recognizing great places to work. The study was free and open to all public and privately held organizations, either for-profit or nonprofit. To be eligible, companies had to be in business for at least one year and are based in the United States, with a minimum of 15 employees.

For more information about any of the publications or media opportunities brought to you by GIE Media, Inc. visit www.giemedia.com