Tony Tully

Roundup welcomes new general manager

by Julia Stuble

Last week, the Pinedale Roundup staff welcomed their new general manager and advertising director, Tony Tully. Tully returns to Pinedale after a six-year hiatus in San Diego County, where he worked as a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch.

He said that he and his wife had a “beautiful three-horse property, but you couldn’t leave it. There were too many people.” In California, Tully’s 12-mile commute often took an hour. Now, he’s pleased to report that his home on Stone Trail to the office takes “45 seconds!” Tully lived in Pinedale from 1991 to 2000, when he was president of Stat!Ref in Jackson. Last October, his wife Dana accepted the executive director position at the Pinedale Fine Arts Council and returned.

“She always thought of Pinedale more of a home than anywhere else,” Tully explained, adding, “People are more engaged here. When you ask somebody what they do, they answer ‘I’m a snowmobiler’ or ‘a single-tracker’. In California, they tell you how they make their money. That’s a fundamental approach to life that’s different.”

Tully was born and raised in Midland, west Texas, and earned advanced degrees in geology from Texas A&M, (B.S.), and Texas Tech, (M.S.) He then earned an M.B.A at the University of Dallas before he worked “in the oil business” for 12 years.

“I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum,” Tully commented, “Everything from those who believe we shouldn’t eat anything but carrots to those who think every inch of the earth should be developed. Neither is right.” Tully is looking forward to fostering longterm employees at the paper, in order to promote better journalism.

“We’re in a special place at a special time. There’s all this money and we’re in a good little spot,” Tully said. “The newspaper is a place for civil discourse. The journalists set up the framework for that discourse. My job is to facilitate that discourse in as many ways as I can.”

Photo credits:  Julia Stuble