Top executive at WITF, LNP | LancasterOnline resigns

• By Chad Umble/LNP | LancasterOnline

Ron Hetrick, president and CEO of the company that owns WITF and LNP | LancasterOnline, announced his resignation Monday, effective immediately.

Hetrick became CEO of WITF in 2019 and then in 2023 also began overseeing LNP | LancasterOnline when that news organization was gifted to WITF by the Steinman family. In 2024 Hetrick was named CEO of Pennon when it was formed as the new parent company of WITF and LNP LancasterOnline.

Hetrick informed employees about his resignation in an email he sent Monday.

“This is a move that I have considered for some time as Pennon has grown and taken new shape. It is time for someone new to invigorate the organization around its public media, education and journalism mission,” Hetrick wrote. “This decision was not made lightly, and I am grateful for having been able to serve in this special role.”

Hetrick did not respond to a phone message left for comment.

In a follow-up email to staff, Pennon board Chair Leigh Horner said she would be immediately stepping in to Hetrick’s role until an interim leader can be named.

“Ron has worked tirelessly in service of our mission, and we are grateful for his passion and commitment to making a positive impact across our 19-county service area. We wish him success in all that the future may hold for him,” Horner wrote.

Tom Murse, executive editor of LNP | LancasterOnline said in an email, “I wish Ron well in his future endeavors and appreciate the support he’s provided to the news teams in what has been, and continues to be, a challenging environment for public media and local journalism.”

“His decision does not slow the work we continue to do to make sure LNP Media Group remains the leading source of news and information in Lancaster County for decades to come,” Murse said.

WITF to LNP

A 1996 graduate of Bishop-McDevitt High School, Hetrick earned a computer science degree from Penn State University and an MBA from Villanova University. He also earned a doctorate in business administration from Temple University.

Hetrick, 47 years old, is a native of Harrisburg who worked in his family’s business installing car phones and selling pagers before getting a job with WITF in 2000 as director of technology. Hetrick, who lives in Hershey, took on more senior roles at WITF before becoming CEO.

As president and CEO of Pennon, Hetrick’s annual salary in 2023 was $327,000, according to Pennon’s annual IRS filing for tax exempt organizations known as a 990.

In a June 2023 interview with LNP | LancasterOnline after he began overseeing the newspaper, Hetrick said experimentation would be required to find a viable business around local news.

“Our goal is to create a sustainable model to deliver high quality local news here in Lancaster, but also do it in a sustainable way that can be replicated in other parts of the region,” he said.

Hetrick oversaw an effort to gather information about ways to best organize the news gathering operation while finding new sources of funding for it. He was also forced to try to plug a funding gap left when federal funding was pulled for public broadcasters, a decision that cost WITF $1.3 million.

Hetrick’s tenure at Pennon was marked by some belt-tightening, including staff reductions as well as the decision for LNP | LancasterOnline to leave its large offices in downtown Lancaster.

In October 2024, Pennon laid off 10% of its employees, cuts that were among the triggers that led to journalists to unionize with the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia, Local 38010. After joining the union in February, they are in the process of bargaining a contract with the company.

In late August, Hetrick hired Digby Solomon as interim publisher of LNP | LancasterOnline, the top executive at the company. A month later, Solomon announced that the newsroom at 101 N. Queen would be shuttered as a new, smaller office was sought. The last day journalists worked in that downtown office was Oct. 7.

In a text message Solomon said Hetrick will be missed but that “his departure does not affect our work at LNP to adapt to our audience’s needs.”