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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The Colorado Springs Independent formally announced Monday it will purchase The Colorado Springs Business Journal effective June 1.

The Business Journal had been owned by The Dolan Company, which owns more than 50 publications across the U.S.

“Local decision-makers with long-term commitments to - and understanding of - our vibrant community are the key to success,” John Weiss, publisher of the Independent and majority owner of the purchasing group, said in a statement. “During the next three to six months, to ensure a smooth transition from national to local control, the Independent’s Executive Editor Ralph Routon and CEO Fran Zankowski will divide their time between both organizations. For the time being, former City Councilor John Hazlehurst will also report and opine for both the CSBJ and the Indy."

The Independent will also apply to service Dolan's contract publishing of three local military newspapers: the Fort Carson Mountaineer, Peterson Space Observer and Schriever Sentinel.

“We’re looking forward to making the Business Journal a stronger, more essential presence,” Routon, whose local newspaper roots date to 1977, said in the statement. “Business is the most powerful force shaping the Pikes Peak region. My mission is to ensure the Business Journal continues to provide timely, accurate and insightful reporting of critical interest to local decision-makers.”

About 68,000 people read the three military papers in print, and about 28,724 read the Business Journal.

“The current staff at CSBJ and the military papers is rock-solid,” Zankowski, a longtime newspaper executive who has been at the Independent since 2005, said. “In the coming months and years we anticipate growing the current 20-person staff to publish even stronger print and online offerings.”

The Independent is the largest locally-owned paper in the Pikes Peak Region and has 142,000 readers for its weekly print edition.

We are psyched,” Weiss, who co-founded the Independent 19 years ago, said. “Six months from now the CSBJ will be even more of a must-read for everyone interested in understanding the entrepreneurial, civic and demographic forces impacting local business decisions.”