Callahan sells its billboard business

By Glenn Drohan12:00AM / Wednesday, February 02, 2005Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD â€” Mick Callahan, president of CCC Media Group, confirmed yesterday that his familyâ€™s 145-year-old business, Callahan Outdoor Advertising, has been sold to Lamar Outdoor Advertising, a Baton Rouge, La., company that operates 152 outdoor advertising companies in 43 states and is one of the nationâ€™s largest. â€œThereâ€™s a regionalization going on in the media world, and I believe this will be good for our customers and good for our associates,â€ Callahan said in a telephone interview. â€œDown the road, a larger company can create better benefits for those folks, and weâ€™re excited about it.â€ All employees will have the opportunity to work for Lamar, a 100-year-old company that is also family-run, Callahan said, adding, â€œIt will be business as usual.â€ He acknowledged the move had been coming for some time and stressed that the sale, for an undisclosed price, was only of the companyâ€™s outdoor advertising branch â€” primarily billboards. â€œPeople have expressed an interest in our business for a number of years. Thereâ€™s a time when you have to make the right business decision,â€ he said. According to Dan Callahan, Mick Callahanâ€™s brother and co-owner of CCC Media with him, the sale will enhance the familyâ€™s other business ventures. â€œThis allows us to expand our other Callahan family-owned businesses more aggressively,â€ he said in a news release. Those businesses include the Callahan Sign Co., which manufactures, installs and services on-premise sign systems throughout the Northeast, and M. Callahan Inc., which owns and manages commercial real estate holdings in the region. Both are based in Pittsfield. â€œMy office will still be in downtown Pittsfield, and weâ€™re going to be exploring other business opportunities,â€ Mick Callahan said. He acknowledged, however, that he has always had a soft spot for the billboard business, which had been in the Callahan family for four generations. â€œIâ€™ve been president since 1978 and had an association with the company since I was 16 years old,â€ he said. â€œWhen I was off to college, I was still working for my dad. We always knew we had a summer job.â€ Callahan, a well-known civic leader who has been active on numerous committees and Berkshire County development efforts, said he believes Lamar will continue the family tradition of giving back to the community â€” as part of that tradition Callahan has often donated billboard space to local causes, non-profit organizations and events. â€œTheyâ€™re a hundred-year-old company,â€ he said of Lamar. â€œThey have a strong history of working with the companies they operate in â€” I think thatâ€™s an important part of anybodyâ€™s business plan. Itâ€™s not something unique to Callahan. All of the media companies contribute a lot, and I would expect they would continue to do the same thing. I just think this is a very good match that will connect the Berkshires to a larger marketplace.â€ The sale was effective immediately. Calls to the Callahan Outdoors office yesterday were answered by Lamar. Callahanâ€™s 10 associates will continue to be employed â€œduring the transition,â€ said Lamar spokesman Roger Rosenbaum, who declined to estimate the length of the transition. He referred inquiries to Matt Duddy, Lamar vice president and general manager, who could not be reached for comment. Lamarâ€™s nearest other offices are in West Springfield and in Albany, N.Y. Duddy said in the news release, â€œCallahan Outdoor Advertising is a company we are very proud to have in our core group. We can now offer our customers more complete coverage of the Albanyâ€“Schenectadyâ€“Troy market.â€ Lamar manages billboards and logo-sign displays from California to Rhode Island and is the nationâ€™s leader in the highway logo sign business, with operations in 20 of the 25 states that have privatized their logo programs. Logo signs are located near highway exits to deliver brand-name information on gas, food, lodging and camping services. Lamar, founded in 1902, operates more than 149,000 billboards and more than 97,500 logo sign displays across the country. In addition, the company has 34 transit advertising franchises that reach motorists in 12 states through displays on bus shelters, benches and buses, according to the news release. The Callahan Outdoor Advertising Division has an undisclosed number of billboards in Berkshire County and New York State, including Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties. Mick Callahan said he did have one regret about the sale: not being able to tell customers and the Pittsfield community about it sooner. â€œMy style is, I would like to look every single customer and every single public service organization weâ€™ve helped over the years in the eyes and thank them for the business and personal relationships weâ€™ve had,â€ he said. â€œIn this fast-paced world, itâ€™s not always possible to do that.â€

Stockbridge Grange Community Dinner

03:12PM / Tuesday, February 03, 2026

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Stockbridge Grange is holding a community dinner on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, featuring spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and bread with dessert choices of chocolate cream or lemon meringue pie.

Dinner is $17.00 per person, take out only with 12-1:30 pm pick up at the Stockbridge Grange Hall at 51 Church Street, Stockbridge. Orders may be made by calling 413-243-1298 or 413-443-4352.

Inclement weather postpones the meal for a week.