The president of Patuxent Publishing Co., which publishes the Howard County Times and Columbia Flier, will leave the company in early May.

Jim Quimby, who has served as president of Patuxent since 2000, will depart May 2 as part of a reorganization of the company, he said March 25.

Patuxent is operated by The Baltimore Sun Co., which, along with Patuxent, is owned by Tribune Co., a Chicago-based company owned by Sam Zell. Tribune includes the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and several other metro daily newspapers, television and radio stations.

Sun publisher and CEO Timothy Ryan announced Quimby's departure in a statement, though Ryan stated no specific reason for the change.

Ryan did not return telephone calls seeking comment on Quimby's departure.

Beginning April 9, Trish Carroll will take over as senior vice president of the Baltimore Sun Media Group's "targeted print" publications, which include those produced by Patuxent and its sister company, Homestead Publishing, in Harford County, and b, a free daily tabloid The Sun intends to launch in mid-April.

A consistent track record

Headquartered in Columbia, Patuxent publishes 18 community newspapers in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. metro areas, and several magazines and local telephone directories. Its 275 employees work in offices in Columbia, Ellicott City, Laurel, Towson and Westminster.

Carroll worked for The Sun for 16 years, in a variety of roles, before taking a job directing operations and technology at The Olympian, a McClatchy Co.-owned newspaper in the state of Washington.

Ryan, who has been The Sun's publisher since 2007, described Carroll as having a consistent track record for "delivering results."

"Trish knows how to build winning teams, to effectively collaborate across organizations and to drive improvements in financial performance," Ryan said in a statement. "It is great to have Trish back on our team and focused on growing an important part of our overall business."

Carroll could not be reached for comment.

'A true professional'

Quimby will leave the company May 2 after 37 years in the publishing business, including nearly eight years at the helm of Patuxent.

Ryan "believes that there are certain things he wanted to accomplish in the company, and he needed to reorganize in order to do that," Quimby said March 25.

Quimby, 55, of Harford County, described his tenure at Patuxent as a "phenomenal" experience. He said he is unsure of his next step.

"My first words to her were, 'Congratulations, you just got the best job in the whole world,' " Quimby said he told Carroll. "It's a phenomenal opportunity to work at a place like the community newspapers."

Quimby's career began in 1970, when he landed a job selling advertising for the Harford County-based Susquehanna Publishing, which was purchased by The Baltimore Sun Co. in 1989.

He later worked in operations, press and packaging, circulation and distribution. He helped merge two competing community newspapers in Harford County to form Homestead Publishing Co., for which he served as general manager.

In September 2000, he was named president of the Baltimore Sun Community Newspaper Group, which includes Homestead and Patuxent.

During his tenure as president, Quimby is credited with expanding the reach and revenue of the Community Newspaper Group, Ryan said.

In 2004 the company expanded into Carroll County with its purchase of The Eldersburg Eagle and creation of The Westminster Eagle. It launched The Sunday Carroll Eagle in 2007.

Patuxent purchased ChesapeakeHome magazine in 2005 and the Ellicott City-based The View newspapers in 2007.

Ryan described Quimby's career as "distinguished."

"It has been a pleasure to work directly with Jim over the past year," Ryan said in a statement. "He is a true professional and we thank him for all he has done in service for our community."

E-mail Jennifer Broadwater at Jennifer Broadwater@patuxent.com