Succession planning—knowing your best candidates for promotion in leading positions—is critical to the success of every enterprise.   

The secret to successful succession plans is having a strong bench of talent—staff members who know the business, continue to develop their expertise and contribute new thinking and ideas.  When the time comes, you have team members you are confident can assume more responsibility and who will work to maintain the quality and take the business to even higher levels.

This month, and after 21 years as editor-in-chief, Jan Tuchman hands off editorial staff leadership to Scott Blair, a 20-year ENR veteran and an award-winning writer and videographer, who has been managing editor for the past five years. “Scott carries on traditions of service journalism, integrity and courage expressed in the 1917 issue that first carried the name Engineering News-Record,” says Tuchman.  

She will take up a new and important role with ENR as executive editor for events, focusing her expertise and network of industry leaders on expanding and strengthening ENR’s portfolio of in-person events and editorial webinars.

“In that first issue, founding ENR Publisher James H. McGraw wrote that a publication must be more than just printing presses and writers—it must be an institution, like a university, which continues—and evolves —from generation to generation,” Blair says. “In that spirit, ENR continues to branch out into videos, podcasts, social media and any future methods to serve our fundamental mission of helping our readers perform their jobs more efficiently and safely.”
In other moves, Scott Judy, who has been deputy editor, regions, and editor of ENR Southeast, becomes managing editor. Louise Poirier, who covers Texas, Louisiana and the Southwest from her base in Houston, steps up to take on the deputy editor role in creating ENR’s regional editions. Jeff Rubenstone, a 16-year ENR veteran, becomes ENR’s deputy editor for news, while Jeff Yoders moves from regional coverage in the Midwest to the technology and equipment beat, teaming up on coverage of  those topics with Rubenstone.

Of course with all of these moves, we will continue our tradition of seeking out the best journalists to continue strengthening ENR’s bench of editorial talent for the years ahead. Please join me in congratulating Jan in her new role, and Scott, Scott, Louise, Jeff and Jeff in their roles as ENR’s next generation of leaders!