Good morning + TGIF,

Over the past few months, Kaden and I have made a concerted effort to get out into the community more — meeting the people, organizations and businesses working every day to move Northwest Ohio forward. It has been one of the most rewarding parts of building Toledo Money.

Tonight, that continues at the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium’s Zoo-to-Do, an event we’ve been looking forward to for months. If you’re there, come find us. We’re excited to spend the evening catching up with familiar faces, meeting new ones and talking about all the momentum happening across the region.

Speaking of momentum, we have a packed issue this morning.

We’re taking a closer look at an organization we ‘may’ve heard’ has been at the negotiating table with the current ownership of The Blade. Rather than simply reporting that conversation, we wanted to dig into the organization itself, its playbook and how it has approached a similar newspaper transaction before.

Lastly, another major downtown activation is arriving this weekend. The Garmin Marathon Series is coming to Toledo, bringing runners, families and visitors into the heart of the city for a multi-day event centered around downtown.

For us, the story is bigger than the race itself. It is another opportunity to look at what happens when a national brand brings an event of this scale to Toledo. Filling hotel rooms, creating foot traffic for restaurants and businesses, and putting the city in front of people who may not otherwise have had a reason to visit.

We’ll take a look at the economics behind the weekend and what another successful downtown activation can mean for the region.

There’s a lot to unpack this Friday, and we have a feeling more than a few people will be paying attention.

Enjoy this week’s Toledo Money.

This weeks shoutout goes to Lance Woodworth, President and CEO at Destination Toledo. We had the pleasure of meeting Lance this week and his passion for Toledo is evident. It showed in the conversation we had; committed to having travel connect people, strengthen community and drive economic growth. Thank you for showcasing the best of NW Ohio.

Owens Corning | $OC ( ▼ 0.08% )

Dana Incorporated | $DAN ( ▲ 0.56% )

The Andersons | $ANDE ( ▲ 0.22% )

Owens Illinois | $OI ( ▼ 1.13% )

Welltower Inc. | $WELL ( ▼ 1.02% )

Marathon Petroleum Corporation | $MPC ( ▲ 0.22% )

First Solar | $FSLR ( ▼ 3.19% )

When Block Communications announced that The Blade was for sale; and that the nearly 200-year-old institution could cease publication at the end of the year without a buyer, the conversation understandably centered on survival.

Who could save The Blade?

Toledo Money understands one of the organizations at the table is the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that suddenly has a very relevant résumé.

Four months ago, Venetoulis acquired another Block Communications newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, just weeks before it was scheduled to shut down.

There is plenty for Toledo to like about that sentence. There is also considerably more to the story. Because Venetoulis did not preserve the Post-Gazette as it existed.

It bought the assets, significantly reduced the inherited newsroom, centralized portions of the business outside Pittsburgh and kept the Post-Gazette brand alive.

If the same model comes to Northwest Ohio, Toledo should understand exactly what it is being offered.

The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism was created in 2021 by businessman and philanthropist Stewart Bainum Jr.

After an unsuccessful attempt to acquire The Baltimore Sun, Bainum instead funded the creation of a new nonprofit newsroom, The Baltimore Banner, which launched in 2022.

The basic theory is compelling.

Traditional newspaper economics have deteriorated as classified advertising disappeared, local advertising fragmented and print circulation declined. Venetoulis believes local journalism can still work by combining several revenue streams: subscriptions, advertising, events and philanthropy.

The Baltimore experiment has generated meaningful traction.

By May, CEO Bob Cohn said The Banner had approximately 81,000 paying subscribers. Roughly half of operating revenue came from subscriptions, about 30% from advertising and events and a little more than 20% from outside philanthropy.

The Banner generated about $18 million in operating revenue in 2025 and expected roughly $22.5 million in 2026. But there is an important qualifier.

It still isn't self-sustaining.

Venetoulis' publicly available tax filings provide a useful look at how the organization has developed since its creation.

_{Source: IRS Form 990 filings compiled by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.}

The numbers tell two stories at once.

First, this is financially strong organization. At the end of 2024, Venetoulis reported approximately $24.5 million in total assets against $6.1 million in liabilities, leaving it with more than $18.3 million in net assets.

But look deeper into the revenue.

Approximately $14.8 million, 54% of 2024 revenue, came from contributions and grants. Program-service revenue accounted for another $7.5 million.

And that reliance on outside capital is a tested model.

In 2022, contributions represented nearly 95% of the organization's revenue. By 2024, that share had fallen dramatically as the underlying media business grew, an encouraging trend, but philanthropy remains a major part of the formula.

Making the financial story nuanced. Venetoulis has meaningful assets, growing commercial revenue and an unusually well-capitalized founding benefactor.

However, it has not completely ‘cracked’ the economics of local journalism.

Founder Stewart Bainum has committed tens of millions of dollars to building the model, giving Venetoulis something most local newspapers do not have: Patient capital willing to absorb losses while management attempts to construct a sustainable business.

Then came Pittsburgh.

Earlier this year, Block Communications announced that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette would close. Venetoulis stepped in.

But pay close attention to how.

It did not acquire the existing operating company with its workforce, contracts and liabilities intact. It purchased the assets of the Post-Gazette.

The pieces it wanted to carry forward.

The prior owner terminated the existing workforce, and Venetoulis effectively started with what Cohn later called a “blank sheet of paper.”

About 90 journalists from the former Post-Gazette expressed interest in joining the new company. Venetoulis hired 58.

Cohn said the old Post-Gazette newsroom had employed roughly 100 journalists immediately before the transaction. Venetoulis did not disguise the rationale. The existing newspaper was losing too much money. A smaller organization was necessary while management stabilized the business.

The second part of the model is equally important.

The Post-Gazette newsroom and local business leadership remained in Pittsburgh. But technology and business operations were combined with Venetoulis Institute teams. Cohn has said marketing, HR, product, technology and finance can operate under shared Venetoulis leadership across multiple markets.

That creates economies of scale. It also creates a question Toledo should ask.

Today, The Blade is more than reporters.

Its organization includes local employees working in finance, human resources, information technology, circulation, marketing, advertising and other supporting functions.

Those are jobs. They are salaries spent at Northwest Ohio restaurants, grocery stores, contractors and businesses. They are households paying taxes here. And they are part of the economics of having a locally operated institution rather than simply a locally branded one.

If Venetoulis applies the Pittsburgh model here, some of those functions may no longer need to exist independently in Toledo. Why maintain three technology organizations when one can support Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Toledo? Why have three separate HR infrastructures, three finance organizations, three product teams?

From Venetoulis' perspective, that is the point.

Cohn explicitly says the path toward break-even comes from the power of shared services across its properties. As a business strategy, it makes sense. As a Toledo economic-development question, it deserves considerably more scrutiny.

And centralization is not necessarily evidence that value is being taken from Toledo. Venetoulis would argue that eliminating duplicated corporate functions is precisely what allows more resources to remain focused on local journalism, and potentially allows a newspaper that otherwise might disappear to continue operating.

As a business strategy, that argument is compelling. As a Toledo economic-development question, it still deserves scrutiny.

Because the community could continue buying Blade subscriptions. Local companies could continue buying Blade advertising. Northwest Ohio foundations and philanthropists could potentially be asked to financially support nonprofit local journalism.

The masthead could still say:

The Blade. Toledo, Ohio.

Yet a greater portion of the machinery those dollars support could sit somewhere else. That is not extraction in the traditional private-equity sense. Venetoulis is a nonprofit; there is no shareholder receiving a dividend from Toledo.

But economic activity can still leave a market.

And local philanthropy could potentially become part of a larger multi-market institution rather than exclusively supporting an independent Toledo organization.

The question shouldn't simply be whether the money technically stays inside a nonprofit.

The question is:

How much of every dollar generated in Toledo continues circulating in Toledo?

None of this makes Venetoulis an unserious buyer. Quite the opposite.

Its balance sheet is meaningful. Its founder has demonstrated a willingness to commit significant capital. The Baltimore operation has built a substantial paying audience. And most importantly for Toledo, the organization has already completed this exact type of transaction with Block Communications.

Pittsburgh gives us the clearest indication of what a deal could look like here.

Venetoulis could preserve The Blade name, maintain a local newsroom and continue serving Northwest Ohio while stripping away portions of the legacy cost structure that made the existing business difficult to sustain.

That could be precisely what saves it.

But “saving The Blade” and “preserving The Blade as it exists today” are two very different propositions.

The Pittsburgh transaction shows that Venetoulis is willing to make difficult decisions quickly. It bought the assets it believed had long-term value, hired back a smaller workforce and moved functions that did not need to remain local into a broader shared-services organization.

If that playbook comes to Toledo, readers may still wake up to The Blade. Advertisers may still buy space in The Blade. Local businesses and foundations may even be asked to contribute to The Blade.

But the company operating beneath that familiar masthead could look substantially different. That is the trade Toledo may ultimately be evaluating.

A newspaper with fewer local employees, more centralized infrastructure and an increased reliance on philanthropy: but one that continues publishing, versus the possibility that the institution disappears altogether.

Venetoulis has demonstrated that it is willing to make that trade. It has also demonstrated that it has the financial backing to attempt it. The question for Northwest Ohio is no longer simply whether someone is interested in buying The Blade.

At least one interested party has a model. Baltimore built it. Pittsburgh showed us how it works. And if Venetoulis ultimately comes to Toledo, the community should understand exactly what comes with it:

The Blade may survive. But the economics underneath the name could change considerably.

For a publication that has spent nearly two centuries embedded in Northwest Ohio, that distinction matters. Because the next owner will not only determine whether The Blade continues to publish.

It will help determine how much of The Blade remains economically rooted in Toledo.

The inaugural Garmin Marathon Series generated an estimated $2 million economic impact in Toledo. Year two is showing what a nationally branded event can become.

Last year, Garmin launched something new: its own national marathon series. And Toledo got the first race.

Garmin evaluated dozens of cities across the United States before selecting Toledo as one of the inaugural markets for the Garmin Marathon Series. The company pointed to strong community partners, proximity to its Detroit office, an established regional running community and a local race calendar where Garmin could be a welcome addition.

The first year produced results.

Approximately 3,000 runners participated, representing 38 states and four countries. The event generated an estimated $2 million in economic impact for the Toledo region.

This weekend, Garmin comes back bigger.

The company expects approximately 3,500 runners, an increase of nearly 500 participants in just one year.

That growth is a key thread because the runners themselves are only part of the economic equation. Participants travel with spouses, children, friends and support crews. They stay in hotels, eat at local restaurants, buy gas, visit attractions and spend time downtown.

And for Toledo, the opportunity increasingly extends beyond what visitors spend while they're here.

One of the more interesting aspects of this year's event is who Garmin is bringing with it.

Ten U.S.-based social media influencers representing seven states are expected to attend the race. Collectively, those creators have approximately 2.7 million followers across their respective platforms.

Garmin is also bringing 10 influencers, athletes and media representatives from Asia, representing another approximately 700,000 followers. Combined, the participating accounts represent roughly 3.4 million followers across social platforms.

That doesn't mean 3.4 million people will see Toledo; audiences overlap and social-media reach varies considerably. However, it does mean a city that traditionally fights for national attention will be placed in front of audiences around the country and internationally.

And they'll be seeing Toledo through people actually experiencing it.

They'll see the riverfront. Downtown. The course. Local restaurants and businesses. The people working the event.

For a destination trying to change perceptions and convince visitors to experience the city firsthand, that kind of organic exposure carries value beyond what appears in an economic-impact report.

Garmin isn't arriving alone.

Because the company owns and produces the Marathon Series, it controls much of the experience surrounding the race; including the brands participating at the expo, along the course and at the finish-line festival.

This year's national partners include Dexcom, Gatorade, Maurten, Pressio, Shokz, Stelo by Dexcom and Therabody.

Those brands bring employees, partners, activations and relationships into the Toledo market. Landing the Garmin Marathon Series means bringing part of Garmin's national ecosystem into Northwest Ohio.

The inaugural event's estimated $2 million economic impact also becomes more interesting when viewed alongside other Toledo-area events.

The Party in the Park series generated approximately $3.1 million in economic impact, while Jeep Fest generated approximately $8.4 million.

The comparison is used as a watermark in lieu of a measuring stick. With the Garmin Marathon series being in it’s second year, the opportunity for continued investment and growth from local partners and Garmin can yield a substantial impact to the local economy.

Garmin produced $2 million in its first year.

What happens in year three? Year five? What happens if 3,500 runners become 5,000, and the number of visitors grows along with them?

“We tell folks, ‘Come where you are celebrated, not tolerated,’” Destination Toledo President and CEO Lance Woodworth told Toledo Money, describing the organization's approach to attracting event-rights holders and conferences to the region.

It's a simple line that captures Toledo's pitch. Because Toledo isn't chasing NFL Drafts.

There is an enormous national market for sporting events, conferences, tournaments and gatherings that need good facilities, reasonable costs, accessible geography and communities willing to embrace them.

In that marketplace, Toledo can show well.

Garmin is an example.

The company evaluated cities across the country and determined Toledo offered the right combination of partners, geography, running culture and infrastructure.

Now the challenge becomes turning one successful recruitment into a long-term event. There will be plenty of attention this weekend on finishing times and medals.

From an economic perspective, though, another race is underway.

Can Toledo take a first-year event that generated $2 million in economic impact and grow it into one of the region's signature annual attractions?

Year two suggests there's plenty of room to run.

Here are a few headlines we are snacking on

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