New Providence, NJ – Former President and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Chris Daggett, will join TAPinto.net as an advisor. Mr. Daggett will bring over three decades of public, private and nonprofit sector leadership experience to help build on TAPinto’s success in expanding local news coverage through over 80 local franchises.

“Local news is critical to the health of our communities and our civic life. That is why TAPinto’s work is so important and exciting,” said Daggett. “TAPinto provides independent, local news coverage in over 80 communities in four states through a successful, scalable business model that can be replicated across the country,” continued Daggett.

While consolidation and downsizing have gripped the news industry, particularly on the local level, TAPinto has been expanding, reaching 8 million readers across all 80 franchised sites in 2018.

“We took a look at what we saw as some of the major business challenges for local news organizations and sought to create a model that removed those obstacles,” said TAPinto CEO and Publisher Michael Shapiro. “From our beginning as a single site in New Jersey, we’ve been very deliberate about growth and how we create value for the communities our franchisees serve. We’re excited to have an advisor of Chris’s caliber and background come on board to help us continue to innovate,” continued Shapiro.

Mr. Daggett will advise TAPinto on growth, innovation and strategy. “TAPinto is the most successful business model for local news I have seen in over eight years following the industry. Mike Shapiro is a savvy entrepreneur who has figured out how to bring news and information to municipalities struggling to inform and engage citizens,” remarked Daggett. “In TAPinto, we have a unique opportunity to make a real and significant impact across the country.”

Mr. Daggett has been a leader for more than 35 years in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Prior to his tenure at Dodge, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Thomas Kean, Regional Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and Managing Director of William E. Simon & Sons.