SALEM — Heidi Wright has been named chief operating officer of EO Media Group, which owns The Daily Astorian.

Wright succeeds John S. Perry, who is retiring after 44 years in the newspaper industry, including the last 12 with EO Media Group.

Wright comes to EO Media Group from Western Communications, owner of the Bend Bulletin and other newspapers in Oregon and California. She is Wescom’s chief financial officer and human resources director. She will join EO Media Group in June.

Steve Forrester, the president and CEO of EO Media Group, announced Wright’s hiring: “Our executive committee — composed of Kathryn Brown, Susan Forrester Rana and me — is pleased to find a successor to Perry with the leadership capabilities to help our company prosper in the digital age. Her prior experience with family-owned companies in our region is especially relevant.”

Prior to joining Wescom, Wright was publisher of the Klamath Falls Herald and News, owned by Pioneer News Group. She also worked as a publisher in Montana for Lee Enterprises. She has an undergraduate degree and a master’s in business administration from the University of Montana.

“Heidi has a lifetime of experience in the West,” noted Brown. “Her experience at newspapers in Butte, Klamath Falls and Bend make her well-suited to understand the communities that EO Media Group serves in rural Oregon and Washington — as well as the extraordinary reach of the Capital Press, our agricultural weekly.”

As chief operating officer, Wright will direct the business operations of EO Media Group and supervise publishers and corporate staff. The company’s headquarters are in Salem.

“It’s an honor and privilege to be joining EO Media Group,” said Wright. “While I will miss my friends and colleagues at Western Communications, I am excited to become a part of the EO Media Group family. My husband, Richard Schuurman, and I are looking forward to calling Salem home in the near future.”

EO Media Group publications include: The Blue Mountain Eagle of John Day, Cannon Beach Gazette, Capital Press, Chinook Observer, Coast River Business Journal, The Daily Astorian, East Oregonian, Hermiston Herald, Oregon Coast Today, Seaside Signal and Wallowa County Chieftain.