The Kansas Department of Commerce Welcomes Dena Sattler as Director of Marketing and Communications

Topeka, Kan. – The Kansas Department of Commerce has named Dena Sattler as the Director of Marketing and Communications. She has been active in the role since mid-last week.

Sattler served as editor-publisher of The Garden City Telegram from 2004 to 2018, and in 2018 was named southwest Kansas group publisher for GateHouse Media, serving as publisher of The Telegram, the Dodge City Daily Globe, The Pratt Tribune, Kiowa County Signal and St. John News.

“Dena brings decades of experience and serious talent to this agency,” said Acting Secretary of Commerce David Toland. “She will be instrumental in our push to communicate our mission for Kansas, as well as in exposing the opportunities of the state to potential business partners around the world.”

Sattler began her journalism career at her hometown newspaper in 1985 in Burlington, Iowa. She went on to fill a variety of reporting and editing roles before moving to Kansas in 1998 for a management training program with Hutchinson-based Harris Enterprises. Her training included work in all phases of newspaper operations at The Telegram, The Hutchinson News and The Ottawa Herald before she returned to Garden City for a position as advertising-marketing director, followed by her promotion to editor-publisher.

“I’m excited to be part of the dynamic team at the Department of Commerce,” Sattler said. “Throughout my career I’ve been in position to help raise awareness of the important work of economic development in southwest Kansas. I’ve seen the positive impact of economic development initiatives in so many Kansas communities, and look forward to contributing to impressive efforts to help people and businesses throughout Kansas grow and prosper.”

Sattler is a past president of the Kansas Press Association board of directors. She’s a trustee for the Kansas Newspaper Foundation and the William Allen White Foundation at the University of Kansas. In Garden City, Sattler served as a board member for the Garden City Area Chamber of Commerce, Garden City Downtown Vision, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Finney and Kearny Counties and the Finney County Humane Society.

A graduate of the University of Iowa, she is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve, with service during the First Gulf War.

She can be reached via email at [email protected]