Hartselle native now leads newspapers
Gary Lawrence
Hartselle native Gary Lawrence has been named vice president and chief operating officer of Heartland Publications, LLC, owner of 52 newspapers in Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma.
In his new position, Lawrence oversees operational activities and is in charge of all capital expense item purchases for the company. He also serves as publisher of the Heartland owned daily newspaper in that community.
A 35-year veteran in the newspaper business, Lawrence graduated from the former Morgan County High School in 1967. He attended the University of Alabama and graduated from Roger Williams University with a B.S. degree in business administration. He holds a certification of para-legal studies from Roger Williams School of Law.
His newspaper career has included assignments for newspaper operations owned by Gannett, E.W. Scripps, New York Times, McClatchy, Morris Newspaper Corp. and Heartland Publications.
He was COO of the Southern Division of Heartland Publications prior to his recent appointment.
He and his wife of 30 years, Ellen, reside in Mount Airy, N.C. They have three children and six grandchildren. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Lawrence of Hartselle.
