Bruce Levenson and Ed Peskowitz named to NEPA Hall of Fame.

Bruce Levenson and Ed Peskowitz, co-founders of United Communications Group, are two of the industry's most successful, most admired and most liked publishers. For those reasons alone, they might be considered Hall of Fame material. But each has also devoted countless hours in service to the newsletter association--as longtime board members and frequent conference speakers--along with other executives of UCG.

With backgrounds as oil jobbers, Bruce and Ed entered the newsletter field working for George Spencer at Observer Publishing on U.S. Oil Week. After about a year, they struck out on their own with the 1977 launch of Oil Express from Bruce's one-bedroom apartment.

With little money for direct mail, they promoted Oil Express at a major trade show that fall in Houston by spending the entire night slipping copies of the newsletter under 1,000 hotel-room doors of oil jobbers.

After another creative promotion--selling nearly one million gasoline pump decals at $1 per piece (at a cost of nine cents each)--they were on their way, moving "up" to an office space above Bruce's father's liquor store in Northwest Washington, D.C.

As early as 1980, UCG introduced an online information service, Petroscan. Patti Wysocki writes in her Ultimate Guide to Newsletter Publishing, "Most of their subscribers didn't have computers yet, so the premium for signing up was an $800 Texas Instrument computer (more like a teletype machine), which hooked into their phones. It was well worth the investment since some subscribers were paying as much as $2,000 per month."

With their uncanny business sense, willingness to take risks, and creative approach to both publishing and marketing, UCG today produces more than 160 publications and services in such fields as healthcare, funeral services, automotive, financial services, education, government, postal information, taxes, telecommunications, technology, and, of course, oil and energy.

They also now have nine separate companies, including the Wall Street favorite Tech-Target IT media company and a significant interest in the NBA Atlanta Hawks, NHL Atlanta Thrashers, and the arena in which both teams play.

The privately held partnership's annual revenue growth is 23 percent.

UCG's corporate culture

Never forgetting their own humble beginnings, Bruce and Ed maintain an employee-centered company. Its offices are designed like a newspaper office with an open environment. Even UCG's current six partners don't have walled-in offices.

Every five years, the partners reward their approximately 1000 employees and spouses with a long-weekend trip on chartered planes or trains to a "mystery" destination. Excursions have included the Poconos in Pennsylvania, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, Marco Island, and New York City (with a private showing of a Broadway play, among other cultural delights).

Employees are also encouraged to work with inner-city students on company time.

And, for the record, the company provides employees with 20,000 free bagels annually, distributed every Monday morning, plus 3.6 tons annualy of free fruit dispensed from a cart every afternoon, and 8,300 annual gallons of free beverages..

Editorial quality

From the beginning, Bruce and Ed have said they were an information company, not a newsletter company. Either way, their information products have consistently won NEPA awards for editorial excellence--garnering UCG more NEPA Journalism Awards than any other company.

In his light-hearted speech on behalf of both partners in accepting the NEPA Hall of Fame honor, Bruce Levenson told the conference, "The fun is just ahead!"

He called online publishing "the great new frontier. If you want to get profound information, you're not going to get it free." UCG's unadulterated financial and editorial success in print and online demonstrates their commitment to "profound information."

As Bruce said periodically throughout his acceptance speech, "Isn't that right, Ed?" UCG, 11300 Rockville Pike, #1100, Rockville, MD 20852, 301-287-2700, fax [phone], ucg.com

RELATED ARTICLE: UCG's corporate mission

* Produce high quality information products.

* Make money.

* Have fun.

* Become the world's premiere B2B information provider.