The Batavian is growing: Meet Brittany, Ethan and Nick

Today was a significant day in the growth of The Batavian -- our first two employees started work.

Granted, both are working on a limited part-time basis, but getting help for Billie and I will give us the latitude to continue growing the business. Over the past couple of months, it's been clear that there simply aren't enough hours in a week to get done all we need to get done, especially if we want to grow.

We've hired Brittany Baker and Ethan Thompson, two people with roots in Genesee County.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Dan Crofts, Gretel Kauffman and Jim Nigro continue on as correspondents and we very much appreciate their ongoing contributions.

Brittany Baker, Staff Writer: I first met Brittany more than 18 months ago when she introduced herself outside a restaurant where she worked. She wanted to write for The Batavian. We brought her on as a correspondent and both Billie and I were impressed with her work ethic and commitment to journalism.

We were exceptionally sorry a couple of months later to see her depart to the Batavia Daily News as a full-time staff writer, but wished her well. In December, I learned Brittany's position at the Daily was eliminated and since I knew I would be creating at least one part-time position in 2011, I immediately contacted her. Billie and I are quite proud that Brittany agreed to rejoin us.

Brittany is 24, born and raised in Genesee County and holds a bachelor's degree in broadcasting from Brockport and an associate's degree from GCC in communications and media arts. Her interests include video games, painting, photography and, of course, writing and reading. She's previously worked for, besides the Daily News, Terry Hills, Hot Shots, Delavan's, Bob Evans and has done some modeling.

She currently resides in Batavia.

Initially, Brittany will work four days per month, with an emphasis on covering the Town of Batavia. We'll add more work days as our revenue grows.

Ethan Thompson, Advertising Support: Ethan is another person who approached me in the early days of The Batavian with an interest in working for us. You may recognize his name. He has covered some football for us and done a couple of other video projects.

Ethan impressed me early on with his ambition and hard work, and when he applied for our advertising support position, I knew I at least had to talk with him about the job. We're very happy he decided to join our staff.

Ethan, 16, lives with his parents in Oakfield and is home-schooled -- he graduates this year. He runs his own media company, Just Passing Thru Productions and works with Ride to Recovery. 

Besides strong video production skills, Ethan can build Web sites in Word Press, knows his way around PhotoShop and other computer programs we use on the advertising side of the business.

One of the tasks I've been having a hard time keeping up with recently is "Deal of the Day," so Ethan's initial duties will be handling all of those responsibilities -- working four mornings a week to post the deals and send out the gift certificates. This should improve the entire process.

Ethan will take on additional responsibilities over the course of the year, all aimed at helping us serve local businesses better and generate more revenue so we can better serve both readers and advertisers.