Jim Porter to Serve as Chairman of Centennial Celebration Host Committee

Jim Porter, the Publisher and CEO of The Canton Repository, has been named Chairman of the newly created Centennial Celebration Host Committee. Porter will lead a group comprised largely of community leaders to prepare for the National Football League’s Centennial Celebration. Plans are underway to host the biggest gathering in the history of the game on September 17, 2020 with a celebration created around the centennial of the founding of the NFL in Canton.

“I am deeply humbled to be chosen to lead this committee of individuals who share a strong belief for the vision of our community. The Centennial Celebration is a once-in-a-lifetime event that will have a huge impact on Stark County,” Porter shared. “We look forward to celebrating the rich history of the NFL and helping to kick off the next century of the game from the city where it all began.”

Pro Football Hall of Fame President & CEO David Baker commented, “Jim Porter’s leadership is invaluable to ensuring that Canton hosts a great celebration befitting the NFL’s Centennial. This will be Ohio’s ‘Super Bowl.’ Jim is a man of great integrity, strong character and immense community pride. He is the perfect choice to serve as chairman of this effort on behalf of our community.”

“Our city is proud to be the birthplace of the National Football League and we treasure that distinction. Canton is not only the home to Hall of Famers but also to every player who has stepped onto an NFL field,” Canton Mayor Thomas Bernabei stated. “A strong team of our community leaders, led by Jim Porter, has been put together to create a special celebration like none other.”

Porter was named Publisher and CEO of The Repository and GateHouse Ohio Media in September 2013. He oversees the management of The Canton Repository, The (Massillon) Independent, The Alliance Review, About Magazine, Friday Night Ohio (FNO), The Summit County Suburbanite, Jackson Suburbanite as well as their many digital products.

During Porter’s tenure as publisher, The Canton Repository has been selected the best newspaper in the state of Ohio the past three years and also recently earned an honorable mention for Editor & Publisher’s “Ten Papers That do it Right” across the nation.

During a career at The Repository that began in 1987, Porter has been recognized as one of Presstime Magazine’s “20 Under 40” and won an International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) award for best overall marketing results. He has also received numerous Ohio Circulation Managers Association awards over the years.

Porter currently serves as Chairman of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, ArtsinStark Board of Directors, Better Business Bureau Board of Directors and United Way of Greater Stark County Board of Directors. This year also marks his third and final year as co-chair of Hunger for Harvest campaign held annually by the Akron-Canton Foodbank.

He is the founder and chairman of the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame and Executive Director of the East-West game. He was inducted into the Plain Local Wall of Fame in 2004.

Porter resides in Jackson Township with his wife, Sarah, and four daughters: Kaitlyn, 24; Bayley, 21; Emma, 14; and Reagan, 11.