By The Chronicle Staff

After 52 years, The Chronicle is moving from one family to another.

Chad and Coralee Taylor, owners of The Silver Agency in Chehalis, have acquired the 131-year-old newspaper from Lafromboise Communications owner Jenifer Lafromboise Falcon. The sale also includes the company’s other newspapers, the Nisqually Valley News in Yelm and The Reflector in Battle Ground.

The Silver Agency is an advertising, marketing and design firm.

The transaction means the newspapers will remain a rarity on the modern newspaper landscape, as the number of family-owned operations continues to dwindle across the industry.

Falcon said it’s one of the many things that made her comfortable trusting her family’s legacy with the Taylors. The fact that the Taylors live in the community served by The Chronicle also helped drive her decision, she said.

Falcon was the third member of her family to guide the company, following in the footsteps of her father, Richard Lafromboise, and her mother, Jeraldine “Jeri” Lafromboise.

“I got so lucky,” Falcon said. “I was lucky to be part of the family. Now I get to pass it on to someone who will love, nurture and cherish the company. I feel blessed.”

Chad and Coralee Taylor said The Chronicle would remain at its location at 321 North Pearl St. in Centralia through a lease agreement with Falcon, who will continue to own the historic building. The Silver Agency and The Chronicle will remain separate companies.

Chad Taylor will serve as publisher, Coralee Taylor will be the CEO and their son, Franklin Taylor, will be the vice president. The name of the new company is CT Publishing.

The new owners said they plan to leverage their experience and success in growing The Silver Agency to improve the newspapers’ bottom line and bring new options for advertisers and businesses.

They said their appreciation of The Chronicle as the primary source of local news for the area and their desire to see it remain viable helped drive their decision to purchase the newspapers.

“The vision is simple, and it’s focused on serving, building on what The Chronicle has already built over the last 131 years,” the Taylors said in a written reply to questions about their plans for the company. “Continue building on the solid foundation of trust that’s been earned, covering the local community with local reporters providing unbiased local news, local sports and in-depth reports on items of interest to the communities we serve. The Chronicle, Nisqually Valley News and The Reflector have a tremendous responsibility to serve our communities, and we will continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards when it comes to journalistic integrity.”

The Taylors said The Chronicle has an essential role in uniting the greater Lewis County area through its coverage. Without a strong local newspaper, the community would risk being defined and served from the outside in, they said.

“The thought of not having a local family-owned newspaper was troubling to us,” the Taylors wrote. “Having been in the media business for as long as we have, we understand how expensive it is to report the news and operate the other side of the business, the side that helps companies attract customers and grow their bottom line. Without The Chronicle, the independent nature of Lewis County will slowly blend into Olympia or Seattle to the north or Longview, Kelso, and Portland to the south.”

Falcon said she is proud of the reputations the newspapers have earned through high-quality, ultra-local news coverage. She also said she cherishes the relationships she’s been able to develop with the staff — past and present — in the years since she stepped into its primary ownership role in 2012.

Chad and Coralee Taylor, who have been married for 22 years, bought The Silver Agency in 2008. Several family members are part of the business and family forms the foundation of their approach to business, the Taylors said.