© 2023, Sound Publishing, Inc.
As president of Sound Publishing, Josh O’Connor oversees the company in its primary leadership role. O’Connor joined Sound’s parent company, Black Press Ltd., in 1998 and was named co-chief operating officer of Black Press in 2021.
He enjoys the challenging dynamics of building successful community publications and coaches a commitment to delivering relevant, local news that directly affects the lives of those who raise families and work in the communities that Sound serves.
Alcott was born in Compton, California. He grew up mostly in Indiana, with a spell in Colorado. He started his professional career in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as a sales manager in charge of house accounts for Ellison Bakery, then the makers of Archway Cookies. The parent company was Darlington Farms.
After moving to Washington in 1997, he entered the newspaper industry. He spent a decade with Horvitz Newspapers, guiding circulation development, then a short stint for Swift Communications in Greeley, Colorado, as the assistant circulation director. He returned to Washington and joined Sound as publisher of the Federal Way Mirror, later taking on the same role for the Enumclaw Courier-Herald.
In Federal Way, city leaders awarded him a Key to the City in recognition of his civic service and as the Mirror’s longest-tenured publisher.
He was named Sound Publishing’s vice president of advertising in February 2020.
Mike is a CPA and comes to Sound with a well rounded experience in all facets of financial and accounting management. He has been the Controller with Pioneer Cable Contractors in Everett since 2008 and acted as the financial business partner to the owner and President of this privately held company.
Prior to Pioneer, he was the Senior Controller with Hertz Equipment Rental for 10 years, and was responsible for all accounting functions including analysis and reporting. With Hertz he worked within a centralized administrative staff overseeing 32 locations in WA and OR.
Mike and his wife, Michele, live in Snohomish with two sons, Evan and Logan.
Tavarez has been an instrumental part of Sound Publishing’s growth and the overall human resources direction of Sound Publishing since 2006.
Tavarez started in December of 1988 as a front desk receptionist with The Valley Daily News in Kent, WA. Tavarez worked her way up to human resources director at Horvitz Newspapers in 2000, and then became a human resources manager at Sound Publishing in 2006 when they acquired Horvitz’s King County Journal and Eastside Community Newspapers.
She is a continuous life-long learner and has invested in her career by earning her Society for Human Resource Management accreditation and Human Resources Certification (HRCI) through college courses at Seattle Pacific University.
Tavarez was born in Renton, WA, though she spent 11 years in Anchorage, Alaska, when her family relocated there in the late 1970s, and returned to Renton which she has continued to call home ever since. She has one daughter who lives in Federal Way, and is her pride and joy!