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.

TEAM

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 helping to create a better world with their gifts and strengths. 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 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. 

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. 

Please welcome our 2024 interns:

• Adeen  McKenzie Kennedy - University of Central Florida - Creative Writing (Summer 2024)
• Keily Alfonzo - University of Central Florida - Journalism (Fall 2024)
• Macy Garcia - University of Central Florida - Communications & Media Studies/PR (Fall 2024)

Previous Interns

• Jake Bell - University of Central Florida - Journalism
• Katelyn Colley - University of Central Florida - Journalism
• Mickenzie Hannon - Valencia & University of Florida - Journalism 
• Matthew Hughes - University of Central Florida - Journalism
• Crystal Jacome - Full Sail University - Broadcasting & Videography 
• Alisha Garner - University of Central Florida - Research & Writing
• Estefania Lazaro - Full Sail University - Marketing 
• Nathaniel Marrero - Valencia Community College & UCF - Journalism
• Ava Niemeyer - Forest Lake Academy - Journalism 
• Allison Petro-Williams - University of Central Florida - Journalism
• Tristan Robinson - University of Central Florida - Creative Writing & Journalism
• Yasmene Warren - University of Central Florida - Journalism

The parent company for The Apopka Voice is Connell Publishing, LLC.

HISTORY

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. 

INVITATION

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 & SUGGESTIONS

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.