Crain Communications Acquires Workforce Magazine

Posted on July 11, 2002

Crain Communications has acquired Workforce magazine from ACC Communications Inc., a family-owned business that has published the title for over 40 years. The announcement was made jointly by Keith Crain, chairman and Rance Crain, president, Crain Communications with Margaret Magnus, president, ACC Communications and becomes effective July 19, 2002.

Published monthly, Workforce covers HR news, trends and analysis to 47,500 human resource executives with 275,000 registered online subscribers. Other brand extensions include a weekly email newsletter, Workforce Week; twice monthly newsletter, Dear Workforce providing a forum for HR expert Q&A; and, the industry respected Workforce Optimas Awards.

Current Workforce publisher and ACC president Margaret Magnus will remain as publisher, reporting to Bill Bisson, vice president/publisher, Pensions & Investments and InvestmentNews. Crain announced that all of the publication's top management have been offered and accepted positions with Crain Communications. In addition to these management positions, Workforce has approximately 20 full time employees with numerous freelancers contributing editorial. Workforce's headquarters will remain in its current location in Costa Mesa, Calif.

"The publication is a good fit for us particularly when considering both the family-owned philosophies and the potential readership dually reached in the pensions, investment and employee benefits area of the insurance markets with Crain publications, Pensions & Investments and Business Insurance," said Keith and Rance Crain in making the announcement. "And, we are particularly pleased that Margaret will be staying on as publisher."

Originally published as The Journal of Personnel Research, and later as Personnel Journal, this year marks Workforce's 80th anniversary. Magnus succeeds her mother, Betty Hartzell who was publisher from 1974 to 1990, and Hartzell's uncle, Arthur C. Croft, who bought the publication in the late 1950s.

Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, Crain Communications publishes over 30 consumer, business and trade publications, including Advertising Age, Automotive News, Business Insurance, InvestmentNews, Modern Healthcare, Pensions & Investments, and Plastics News as well as business weeklies in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and New York and numerous related business websites. Crain has more than 1,000 employees located in 18 offices worldwide.