About Us | Watertown Current

About Us

How We Got Started

During the spring of 2023, McQuillen Creative Group, of Aberdeen, launched the Aberdeen Insider newspaper. Within a year, paid subscriptions topped 4,000 and continue to grow each week. In an era of declining local newspaper coverage, opportunities exist for a different model of news publishing than what folks are used to. We took our inspiration from the Dakota Scout in Sioux Falls, but made some tweaks to how they operate. Things were going so well in Aberdeen with the Insider, that we began exploring the idea of replicating the model in Watertown, another community starved of local newspaper reporting. Soon a new newspaper office was established in downtown Watertown, right off Kemp Avenue.

How We Operate

The Watertown Current website features daily news articles with a hyperlocal emphasis but also include statewide stories appropriate to our readers. We add 1-4 stories of varying length daily. We cover city, county, and school system meetings, obituaries, events, arts, culture, and will eventually cover sports. Every Thursday we produce a printed newspaper to mail to subscribers through the post office. The remaining newspapers from the print run are made available on Friday for free pick-up at designated businesses around Watertown (and at The Current office). These are just free samples provided for promotional purposes in hopes of encouraging subscribers.

The Watertown Current is a LLC owned exclusively by McQuillen Creative Group, Inc. which is based in Aberdeen, SD.

About Our Team

You might recognize all the members of our Watertown staff. Many have experience with the Public Opinion and we are excited to be concentrating on local news once again. We have Roger Whittle as editor/reporter, Brandon Heim as our ad sales manager/reporter, and Jen Pendley as our customer engagement specialist/ad sales. We feel it’s important to have a dedicated person on staff to answer calls, help with subscriptions, and answer questions. The phone number for The Watertown Current is (605) 657-1797. We welcome call-in or walk-in subscriptions, and you can pay via cash, check, or credit card (or through our website). You can also multi-copy subscriptions for your business or gift a copy to a close friend or loved one. Our address is 13 2nd ST SE, right behind the Gather Coffee House.


Our Team

Troy McQuillen

Troy McQuillen

Founder and Publisher

Troy McQuillen is the founder of The Aberdeen InsiderThe Watertown Current, and the Aberdeen Magazine.

 

Roger Whittle, Reporter and Paginator, Watertown Current

Roger Whittle

Reporter and Paginator

Roger Whittle has over 40 years of daily newspaper experience at a dozen papers across the country including the Omaha World Herald. He returned to his hometown of Watertown in 2012 as editor of the local paper. He has been recognized with dozens of journalism awards for writing, photography and page design.

Brandon Heim, Sales Manager, the Watertown Current

Brandon Heim

Sales Manager

Brandon is the Advertising Sales Manager for the Watertown Current. A native of Watertown, with deep roots in Deuel County, Brandon has a passion for helping local businesses tell their story. He also enjoys seeing them grow and the community thrive.

Jen Pendley, Customer Engagement Specialist, Watertown Current

Jen Pendley

Customer Engagement Specialist

Jen Pendley is the Customer Engagement Specialist for the Watertown Current. A lifelong Watertown resident, she previously has worked at the Watertown Chamber of Commerce and KXLG radio. She has many years of customer experience dealing with all things Watertown. Also a former Public Opinion employee, she lives in city limits with husband, Craig, and their two children.