Matt Walsh CEO, The Observer Group, Inc.

Matt Walsh is CEO and co-owner of The Observer Group Inc. —  publisher of the Gulf Coast Business Review, Gulf Coast Commercial, The Sarasota Observer, The Longboat Observer, The East County Observer, The South Sarasota Observer, The North Manatee Observer and Season magazine.

Walsh, his wife, Lisa, and his in-laws, David and Ruth Beliles, purchased The Longboat Observer in March 1995.

Since then, through a combination of four startups and three small acquisitions, the company has grown from 18 employees to 60 and increased revenues more than sixfold.

The Observers are a group of free community weeklies that reach 200,000 readers per week in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The Review, in contrast, serves as highly targeted audience of 5,000 CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders from Tampa Bay to Naples and is the only weekly business paper covering the west coast of Florida.
 
Prior to acquiring The Longboat Observer, Walsh served a year as Southeast bureau manager for Forbes magazine. He served seven years as executive editor and editor of Florida Trend magazine. And he spent six years at The Miami Herald, where his last position was deputy business editor. Since joining The Miami Herald business staff, Walsh has been observing and covering Florida’s economic and business trends as a reporter, editor and entrepreneur for nearly 25 years.

Born in St. Louis, Walsh is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He attended the University of Kansas Graduate School of Business.