Chamber names rockin’ publisher top entrepreneur

Nate Haveman, the publisher of Gallup Journey, has been named Businessman of the Year by the chamber of commerce. [Photo by Brian Leddy / Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — It doesn’t take an MBA to figure out why the members of the Gallup-McKinley Chamber of Commerce decided to make Nate Haveman, the publisher of the Gallup Journey, the Businessman of the Year.

After all, what other publisher in Gallup can claim to be well-liked by everyone in the community?

Chamber Director Becky Apel said she could se why Haveman was selected.

“He’s young and has new ideas, and he is providing something positive for the community,” she said.

The Journey, which has been publishing monthly since 2004, covers a wide range of Gallup’s historical and cultural heritage, and the only controversial things that can be found between its covers are some of the opinions expressed in the On the Street interviews and the occasional letter from readers who want to vent their steam on one thing or another.

He and his wife, Heather, who does most of the editing for the monthly publication, own 50 percent of the paper. The other 50 percent is owned by Charles and Jennie Van Drunen.

The publication is distributed free throughout the town at various restaurants, stores and areas where the public visits. They had a tough go of it during its first year, but Haveman said that since he became more involved in its operation a year or so ago, the finances have gotten a lot better, in part by a decision to trim the costs and cut down on the payroll.

The publication is now doing a lot better, and Haveman said that it should continue operating as long as there are people running it who feel committed to keeping it going.

As far as he and his wife are concerned, there are no immediate plans to leave the publication, but he admits that there’s the idea in the back of his mind that someday he would like to pursue other interests and start a different kind of business.

Maybe it will have something to do with music, since a lot of people in town also know him as a singer for the pop-rock band Subtle Groove, which he and three other locals — Greg Cavenaugh, Nate Feddes and Matt Ashmore — started three years ago.

The group has been playing at the El Rancho fairly regularly on weekends — including this Friday night — and the group is also becoming well-known in Colorado because of its 12 shows it does in that state annually.