CNPA Partners with Column to Build Long-Term Public Notice Solution

The California News Publishers Association (CNPA), a non-profit trade association, and Column, a public benefit software startup, are excited to announce a long-term strategic partnership that will transform the future of public notice for the most populous state in the country.

In partnership with Column, CNPA members will have access to public notice software that they can deploy to streamline internal operations and deliver a powerful new customer experience for local governments, legal services, and businesses that are required to place notices. The Column platform offers cost savings for all users involved including personalized on-boarding, a simplified billing and digital affidavit system, live chat support, and notice order management.

“We are intent on finding ways to help CNPA members adapt to and benefit from modern technology,” said CNPA President and CEO Charles F. Champion II. “Column adheres to that strategy. It is the most cost-efficient and customer-centric public notice platform on the market. It transforms notice operations for publications of any format and distribution. It’s the perfect fit for our diverse membership population.”

Since its launch in September 2020, Column has signed on a roster of early adopters across major enterprise media groups like The McClatchy Company, Ogden Newspapers, Wick Communications, Adams Publishing Group, Swift Communications, and The Washington Post. In addition to their rapid adoption among media businesses, Column also maintains strategic partnerships with state press associations in Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, and New Mexico.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with CNPA in building the official platform for public notice for the state of California, and look forward to serving the media businesses, government officials, and legal professionals that carry out public notice across one of the world’s largest economies,” said Jake Seaton, Founder & CEO of Column. “Forming long term, well-aligned partnerships with industry advocates is core to Column’s mission and has been a key driver of our explosive growth since our launch just last year.”

CNPA and Column have charted the path for a long-term and multi-phase process of rethinking the critical role the media plays in distributing public interest information like public notice. The partnership will start with the rebuilding and launch of a brand new statewide public notice database this summer. The organizations will also work closely on deploying Column’s public notice tools among CNPA members to help better serve the local governments, legal services, and businesses that perform this complex, regulated process.