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Giovanni Gutierrez, a University of Tampa graduate student and sales/marketing manager of Tampa-based CENTRO Grupo de Comunicación, has been named “one of the best and brightest young professionals in the newspaper business” by PRESSTIME magazine.

The magazine’s “20 Under 40” feature in the current issue is designed to recognize those in newspaper advertising, circulation, marketing, newsroom, new media or operations who have proven themselves as “change agents within their companies and the industry, providing much needed leadership and vision.”

Gutierrez oversees the branding, sponsorship, distribution and sales of CENTRO Mi Diario, a weekly publication, and its Web site www.CENTROtampa.com.

Both are produced by CENTRO Grupo de Comunicación, a part of Florida Communications Group, which includes the Tampa Tribune and other Florida operations owned by Media General Inc. According to the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), the CENTRO newspaper and Web site have become the region’s leading Spanish-language products.

Gutierrez started at the Tampa Tribune in 2003 as a recruitment advertising account manager, and became sales/marketing manager for CENTRO in fall 2005. In 2007, Gutierrez spearheaded the launch of Quinceañera — Florida Quince Guide, an annual ethnic magazine targeting Hispanic girls celebrating their 15th birthday, and saw a 34 percent page increase in the publication’s second year.

Gutierrez is currently pursuing an MBA with a marketing concentration at UT, and sits on the Tampa mayor’s Hispanic Advisory Council and the board of Hispanic Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs.

Rebecca Ross Albers, NAA vice president and editor of PRESSTIME, said the 20 young professionals profiled in the magazine represent the innovative work being done at today’s newspapers.

As the industry moves toward a hybrid online business model, these employees of NAA-member newspapers are helping to lead the way,” Albers said.

Other winners included:

• Bonita Burton, deputy managing editor, Orlando Sentinel
• Jeffrey Graham, executive director, Customer Insight, The New York Times
• Josie Martinez, senior manager for recruitment and retention, The Arizona Republic
• Paul Kasbohm, vice president of retail and national advertising, Minneapolis Star Tribune
• Chris Snider, assistant managing editor for digital, The Des Moines Register

See Gutierrez’s full feature.

PRESSTIME, published monthly by the NAA, reaches executives across all departments with information about the issues that affect newspaper operations today and in the future. It serves as an authoritative voice in an increasingly competitive media world that helps newspapers improve their journalism, their businesses and their role in a democratic society.

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $56 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the United States and Canada.