News From RCL Benziger
RCL Benziger is pleased to announce the appointment
of Peter M. Esposito as President.
His appointment by William R. Reed,
CEO of CFM Religion Publishing Group,
follows the resignation of Maryann Nead as President.
Maryann came to RCL · Resources for Christian Living as Publisher in 1996 and was appointed President in 1999. She served in that capacity until RCL was acquired, along with Silver Burdett Ginn Religion and Benziger, to form RCL Benziger in the summer of 2007. At that time Maryann became the president of the new consolidated religion publishing.
Peter Esposito brings RCL Benziger over 25 years of K-12 educational publishing and technology experience and has served in several senior level executive roles. He began his career with LEGO Systems as Managing Director where he was responsible for the educational technology division. From there he joined The Learning Company, a leading publisher of educational software, as Vice President of K-12 Sales and Operations.
Peter headed up Marketing and Sales for the Technology Division at Houghton Mifflin Interactive, a leading K-12 school textbook publisher, before joining a small start-up technology software company, which ultimately led him to Weekly Reader Corporation Media. At Weekly Reader, Peter served as Chief Marketing Officer and Group President, managing a portfolio of five business units with over 200 employees. His strong marketing leadership and selling skills, combined with extensive experience in leveraging content digitally, translated into impressive top line growth from legacy brands during Peter’s time at WRC Media. Most recently, Peter was Chief Marketing Officer at a regional energy company, where he has worked since he left WRC Media, following its merger with Reader’s Digest.
Peter and his wife Kathleen have three children, Paul, Kathleen and Andrew. Both Peter and Kathleen are active members of Saint Mary’s Parish in Simsbury, CT and taught religious education classes there for many years as volunteer catechists. Peter and his wife will move to the Cincinnati area later in 2010.
In his announcement of these changes to CFM employees, Bill Reed affirmed the many gifts that Maryann Nead brought to RCL Benziger over the past thirteen years. “While we regret Maryann’s decision to leave us, we certainly respect her decision and extend our best wishes to her for the future. We are also excited to welcome Peter Esposito to RCL Benziger and look forward to his leadership as we begin to prepare a new generation of faith formation resources. He will assist us in finding more effective ways to provide our quality content digitally to our parish and school customers as we broaden our customer base to include parents and all adults who seek sound Catholic educational and formational materials.”
RCL Benziger is a division of CFM Religion Publishing in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the leading provider of Pre-K through Adult curriculum resources for the U.S. Catholic community.
For more information about the companies, go to www.cfmreligionpublishing.com, www.standardpub.com, or www.rclbenziger.com
News From RCL Benziger
WILLIAM R. REED NAMED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
OF CFM RELIGION PUBLISHING GROUP
CINCINNATI -- June 11, 2008 – William R. Reed, 30-year veteran of specialty book and magazine publishing, has been named chief executive officer of CFM Religion Publishing Group, LLC (CFM), the company announced today.
Reed joined CFM in December 2007 as Chief Operating Officer after a nearly 20 year career at Meredith Corporation in Des Moines, Iowa, (publisher of Better Homes and Gardens) and at F+W Publishing, the Cincinnati-based special interest magazine and book publisher. In his new position, Reed will direct the strategic growth and development of CFM operating companies, while continuing to explore opportunities for additional acquisitions that complement these existing businesses.
CFM is a private, equity-backed company headquartered in Cincinnati that publishes Christian books and curriculum products focused on teaching, empowering and inspiring children and adults. CFM owns two publishing companies: Standard Publishing in Cincinnati, a non-denominational Christian publisher which since 1866 has produced true-to-the-Bible church resources, curriculum and books, and RCL Benziger, a Catholic educational publisher that provides religious curriculum for Catholic schools and parish programs. RCL Benziger, which is based in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas, has product lines dating back to the late 1700s, under the Benziger brand.
Maryann Nead of Dallas serves as the president of RCL Benziger. A national executive search currently is underway to fill the president position at Standard Publishing.
CFM is an affiliate of The Wicks Group of Companies, LLC , a New York-based private equity fund that invests in selected segments of the communications, information, and media industries. It founded CFM in 2006 when it acquired Standard Publishing, then expanded its holdings in 2007 with the acquisition of RCL and Benziger, which were brought together to operate as RCL Benziger.
Reed is from Chicago and a graduate of DePaul University. He and his wife Colleen reside in Indian Hill, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati.
For more information about the companies, go to www.cfmreligionpublishing.com, www.standardpub.com, or www.rclbenziger.com
RCL Benziger Hires Daniel S. Mulhall as Director of Consultant
Services
CINCINNATI, December 3, 2007—CFM Religion Publishing Group announced today
the hiring of Daniel S. Mulhall (effective January 2, 2008) as the Director of Consultant
Services for RCL Benziger, its Catholic Religion Publishing Division. Mr. Mulhall, who
comes to RCL Benziger after serving as the Assistant Secretary for Catechesis and
Inculturation for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) since 1998,
will report directly to the president of RCL Benziger, Maryann Nead.
In his new role, Mr. Mulhall will be responsible for scheduling and coordinating the work
of RCL Benziger’s excellent team of professional speakers and consultants, and will
himself be available for speaking engagements on a limited basis. He will work closely
with diocesan offices and will become the primary contact between RCL Benziger and
the many national organizations that have an interest in the Church’s evangelizing and
catechizing mission.
RCL Benziger President, Maryann Nead commented, “I’m delighted to have Dan join the
RCL Benziger team. He brings to the company a unique perspective on the Catholic
market, along with a wonderful reputation as a consultant, speaker, and writer in the field
of Catholic religious education. He will play an important role in helping us to develop
future catechetical and faith formation product for the entire Catholic community.”
Mr. Mulhall offered these remarks, “RCL Benziger aims to reshape the field of Catholic
catechetical publishing for the future of catechesis. I’m eager to be a part of that future.”
After January 1st, Mr. Mulhall can be reached at dmulhall@rclbenziger.com.
Maryann Nead
President
RCL Benziger
RCL Benziger Acquires Silver Burdett Ginn Religion
Dear Partner in Ministry,
It is my great pleasure to announce that RCL Benziger has acquired Silver Burdett Ginn
Religion from Pearson Education. Silver Burdett Ginn Religion will become an integral
part of RCL Benziger in Allen, Texas. However, since Pearson Education continues to
publish other curriculum subjects under the Silver Burdett Ginn imprint, we will have to
discontinue the use of the name Silver Burdett Ginn Religion in the next year.
Silver Burdett Ginn Religion has a long history of producing sound catechetical resources
and I want to assure you that you will continue to be able to purchase all your favorite
faith formation materials from us whether they were originally published by RCL,
Benziger, or Silver Burdett Ginn Religion.
Earlier this year, RCL and Benziger were merged by our new owner -- CFM Religion
Publishing Group, LLC. CFM is composed of RCL Benziger and Standard Publishing, a
Christian non-denominational publisher in Cincinnati. While both RCL Benziger and
Standard Publishing share CFM’s mission to provide the highest quality materials for life
long faith formation, each company is managed and operated independently in order to
better serve their respective markets.
RCL Benziger will serve the Catholic community with the same high quality Catholic
faith formation materials that you have come to expect from us and from Silver Burdett
Ginn Religion.
Please let us hear from you – share with us your hopes, your needs, your dreams for your
ministry. My pledge to you is that RCL Benziger will always listen and will produce
effective and engaging Catholic religious education and faith formation resources to
support you and those you serve.
I look forward to what I believe is a bright and promising future for our new company
and for our ministry.
Your partner in ministry,
Maryann Nead
President