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MISSION & VALUES
The mission of The Apopka Voice is to engage with relevancy, inform with integrity, and inspire greater good at all levels of the community. We uphold the key values of honesty and transparency, seeking to shine a compassionate light on social justice issues, sharing opportunities for residents to connect and make a difference, and opening avenues for deeper dialogue, solution-finding and action-taking. We see our site and mission as a “work in progress”, pursuing improvement and growth through learning, risk-taking, listening and engaging, with the hope to become more effective and expand our reach and positive impact in the world.
While publishing articles largely focused on local news, we also cover business, government, education, real estate, family, faith, environment, history, health, pets, politics, and more. We frequently accept guest posts (including paid sponsored posts), and publishing opinion pieces ranging from politics to religion, as well as product- or general-issue based articles. The opinions expressed in these posts are not to be necessarily understood as shared, nor products/services endorsed by The Apopka Voice simply because we have published it. We believe in providing a variety of viewpoints and opportunities, as well as encouraging the exploration and/or dialog it hopefully creates for our readers. In addition, we also cover relevant county and statewide news that impacts Apopka residents, keeping the community informed on topics not always covered by other news outlets.
Denise Connell is the publisher of The Apopka Voice. With a BA in Interpersonal Communication from the University of Central Florida and an MA in Religious Studies from La Sierra University in California, Denise has served the Central Florida community since 1992 through organizational leadership, teaching, writing, motivational speaking, and life-design coaching. She has led and guided businesses, non-profit organizations, departments, teams, and individuals in finding their vision and creating a better world. Denise’s heart and focus have always been to inspire change for more passionate, purposeful, and difference-making kind of living. It is her hope that as publisher of The Apopka Voice she will be able to do the same through the content published, issues focused on, through mentoring young journalists and business leaders in our Internship program, and by always pursuing strategies to further a more connected and engaged Apopka community.
Reggie Connell started his journalism career in 1981 with the St. Pete Times working the desk as well as writing for the sports department. He attended the University of Florida and served as a journalist on two of the student newspapers there, The Independent Florida Alligator and The Student Leader. Having won awards for his writing and editing, and with additional business-focused years in insurance and mortgage sales, Reggie soon bought and ran City Magazine in Altamonte Springs, serving as publisher and managing editor there, while also writing and publishing his first book in 2014, Falconland, an historical novel on the life of the 13th century King Frederick. While working on the sequel to Falconland, Reggie took on the managing editor role for The Apopka Voice in 2015, and just two years later became its owner. Serving as the managing editor through to today, Reggie's love for contributing to Apopka's growth via honest, ethical and quality journalism continues strong.
Megan Garcia is our newest team member, joining us in 2022 as Advertising Sales Representative with The Apopka Voice. Born and raised in Apopka, she also co-owns Create Bridge Media, a multimedia and consulting business in Apopka, with her husband Matthew. She and Matthew have been married almost nine years and have three children - Liam, Eliza, and Brielle.
"I have always been so proud of my hometown, and I make myself available to it in any way I can," Garcia said. "Our family is excited to join The Apopka Voice family. I look forward to connecting with the businesses represented in this community."
Megan's genuine love for Apopka and joy in connecting with the community, combined with her expertise in online media marketing is a tremendous combination. She has a mission-focused heart, and is someone who doesn't just want to “do business”, but rather, looks for ways to serve her community. She is down-to-earth with an eye on the horizon, which makes for great brainstorming sessions, and brings both analytics and new ideas to the table, with a refreshing dash of humor and easy smile every time.
Apopka businesses deserve to have their story told in creative and effective ways, and to know that the value they bring to and for the community is being seen, heard, and felt every day. The Apopka Voice will be able to do that more than ever now with Garcia on the team, making sure Apopka is growing stronger and more connected, one business, and one story at a time.
To have the story of your business told, contact Megan at (321) 277-6658 or info@theapopkavoice.com.
Interning Correspondents: We partner with local college and university internship programs to provide students with real-world experience, mentoring, and opportunities for publishing and building their portfolios. Typically our interns are studying journalism, communications, digital media, and / or business, and are either enrolled in studies or recently graduated. We have had the joy of working with interns from Full Sail University, Seminole Community College, University of Central Florida, and Valencia Community College. Occasionally we also take on high school interns who are especially recommended and qualified.
The parent company for The Apopka Voice is Connell Publishing, LLC.
Originally The Apopka Voice launched in December 2015 by local resident and business leader Dale Fenwick, who had the vision for building a local, independent, online news site dedicated to telling the story of life in Apopka, Florida. In May 2017, Fenwick sold The Apopka Voice to then managing editor, Reggie Connell, who continued with the vision, while adding Orange County and relevant statewide news that impacts Apopka residents. In February 2020, Denise (Badger) Connell joined the team officially as publisher, and in April that same year The Apopka Voice became a dba under Connell Publishing, LLC, continuing the vision not only for Apopka, but also with plans to expand to other cities who are missing out on having their story told through hyper-local, quality journalism.
Delivering worthwhile local news and accurate reporting is truly a community-wide effort. It takes a dedicated staff and a loyal readership working together to make it happen. We hope you will give The Apopka Voice a good look, and then join us as a partner in transforming the way news is delivered and acted upon. Your engagement and participation with us says you believe that supporting trustworthy, independent, and difference-making local news means a better community for all.
We invite you to share your thoughts and concerns, ideas and celebrations, questions and solutions with us through photos, social media interactions, comments, advertising, community participation and support. We, in turn, hope to make you proud to have us as a main source for keeping you informed, engaged and inspired, connecting you more with the community we love.
Questions about our news site or advertising? Suggestions or ideas? Feel free to email or call us. We’d love to connect: 407-415-6218; info@theapopkavoice.com.
