A veteran newspaper advertising executive has joined the staff of Mississippi Press Services as its director of sales.

David Gillis, 55, of Vicksburg, joined MPS earlier this month and will oversee the newspaper marketing agency’s sales efforts. Prior to joining MPS, Gillis spent 15 years as advertising director for the Vicksburg Post.

“We’re thrilled to have someone with David’s experience in and enthusiasm for newspapers join our team,” said Layne Bruce, executive director of MPS. “He has worked in the trenches at the newspaper level for many years and we know that background will serve him well as he promotes newspapers as a medium of first choice on behalf of our statewide membership.

Prior to joining the Vicksburg Post as retail advertising manager, Gillis was a southwest sales representative for the Dallas Times Herald.

“I am very excited to be on board with Mississippi Press Services,” said Gillis. “I look forward to working with our member papers, advertisers and agencies to hopefully aid them in their continued success.”

Bruce said that while times are changing rapidly and media buyers have a menu of choices in advertising, newspapers still represent a great value to clients.

“MPS works with clients on a number of levels, including print and the Web, to help customers market their business to consumers in Mississippi and nationwide,” he said. “Our name says Mississippi, but we work with publications and sister associations across the country to promote the value and effectiveness of newspapers in print and online.”

Founded in 1978, MPS is the advertising business unit of the Mississippi Press Association, the trade organization for over 100 member newspapers in the state. It acts as an advertising placement firm for member papers and coordinates statewide cooperative ad networks. Established in 1866, MPA is the sixth-oldest operating association of its kind in the nation.