Patch.com’s David Reich-Hale was one of the Long Island business leaders honored Thursday night at the Long Island Business News 40 Under 40 awards at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.
Reich-Hale, 39, is Long Island’s senior regional editor, overseeing Patch’s 40 hyper-local news sites, which stretch from New Hyde Park to East Hampton. He left his post as LIBN editor last spring to roll out the AOL-owned foray into community news.
"I spent six years at LIBN,” Reich-Hale said. “For three years, I was the editor. So it's an honor to be recognized by them, and it's also a validation of what we have accomplished at Patch in a short period of time."
Under Reich-Hale, the Patch footprint has gone from seven to 40 websites on Long Island alone, including hiring and managing a staff of 45. Patch now has about 800 sites nationwide.
Reich-Hale earned a journalism degree at Southern Connecticut State University, where he was named the state's Graduate of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists. He worked as a press fellow for U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in Washington, D.C., and made stops as a reporter at the Connecticut Post, New Haven Register, Reuters, American Banker/Thomson Financial and National Underwriter.
At Long Island Business News, Reich-Hale rose from finance reporter to managing editor, Web editor and from 2007 to 2010 as the editor.
This is the 13th year LIBN has selected the 40 Under 40. Here is a list of this year’s winners.
