Travis Roberts named new general manager for Golden West in Portage

Travis Roberts is the new General Manager for the Portage la Prairie centre of Golden West Broadcasting.

He started in his new role today, and he notes it's been a long journey to get to this point.

Roberts says he started as an intern back in May of 2012 after graduating from the Academy of Broadcasting in Winnipeg which is now a part of Herzing College. Shortly thereafter, he was hired part-time.

"For half a year, my shifts were pretty wild. It was Friday night, Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m., Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m., and then Monday night. Twenty hours all condensed down into one weekend," says Roberts. "Paid my dues a little bit, started full-time in the newsroom covering mostly sports, then moved my way from evening announcer, afternoon morning show host when Country 93 launched, Program Director, Sales Manager and now General Manager. So, a little all over the place."

He says Golden West in Portage is not just about radio and PortageOnline. Recently, the company launched Homefield, which is all about finding unique marketing opportunities for partners in both Portage and the city's surrounding areas.

When asked how he plans to move forward, he made reference to the former Station Manager.

"I'm a firm believer in an adage that Paul Harland used to say, 'If nothing changes, nothing changes.' With that being said, there's not going to be sweeping, big changes overnight," says Roberts. "I like to keep things mostly status quo, make small changes along the way, if needed, but really, we have a great team here in Portage with very low turnover. We have lots of long-term employees and that's the way we want to keep it. We like to have a fun atmosphere here. We like to get the work done and we like to have fun on the radio."

He wanted to say thank you to all the community members who have wished him well recently, noting he's excited to work with everyone in his new role.