Bastrop, TX (July 17, 2023) — Community Impact is expanding into the city of Bastrop this September with a new digital-first growth strategy, featuring the debut of a free Bastrop email newsletter and website, prior to delivering printed newspapers to all residents in spring 2024.

“For our Bastrop launch we decided to flip our expansion strategy on its head and test a digital-first model we are calling CI Light,” Community Impact’s Texas Group Publisher Traci Rodriguez said. “We love a good double entendre—CI Light means we want to shine a light on the community with high-quality, local journalism while also making a lighter investment using digital platforms to build our brand and make connections in the community, while helping build the foundation for the CI printed edition to follow.”

Business leaders from the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce first visited Community Impact headquarters back in 2016, shortly after the company opened its new printing facility. They shared information about their booming community, their need for news coverage, and even listed preliminary advertiser support they had gained, knowing CI relies on this as opposed to traditional paid subscriptions. Fast-forward to 2023, and the expansion is set to be Community Impact’s 40th market.

“The Chamber recognized the need for fair and balanced local coverage on items of interest such as economic development, our rapidly growing school district and of course information relative to our local governmental bodies. There just was not a good, centralized source for this vital community information.” said Becki Womble, president and CEO of the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce. “We are so proud of our successful efforts and about this exciting new partnership in our community! A big debt of gratitude is owed to VP for Operations, Jami Haney for pushing this across the finish line!”

The mission of the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce is "To improve business prosperity and, thereby, the quality of life in Bastrop County, through leadership, advocacy, and collaboration." Currently, the Chamber serves a membership of nearly 800 members throughout Bastrop County and Central Texas and is consistently ranked in the Top 5 Largest Chambers by the Austin Business Journal. To learn more and/or join the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce, please visit www.bastropchamber.com.