Founded in 1923 by Frank Gannett in Rochester, New York, the Gannett Company was originally simply an outgrowth of a newspaper he had launched in Elmira, New York in 1906. The company grew as Gannett continued to purchase small independent newspapers and developed them into a large chain. In 1979 the mother company was in charge of 79 newspapers across the country.
In 1986 the company relocated its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia from Rochester. In 2001 the company moved its headquarters once again to its present location in Tysons Corner, near Washington, DC.
In 1973 Allen Neuharth joined Gannett. He began to grow the company with his aggressive business style and acquisition of profitable newspapers and other media outlets, until Gannett became a billion-dollar business. Gannett’s launching of USA today in 1982 was Gannett’s greatest achievement, under the auspices of Neuharth.
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