Under the planned merger, which is expected to take place by theend of the year, the Eastside Business Journal will integrate its18 employees and its free request/subscriber base of 10,400 intoits parent publication, the Puget Sound Business Journal, which has42 employees and a paid circulation of 21,121. The broaderpublication will retain all current employees and maintain officesin Seattle and Bellevue.

The Eastside Business Journal began in 1996 as a monthlypublication written by the Puget Sound Business Journal staff. Itwas launched as a stand-alone weekly in March 1999. American CityBusiness Journals Chairman and CEO Ray Shaw says the decision tomerge the two newspapers stems from the fact that the twopublications were bumping into each other with news coverage andcompeting for many of the same readers and advertisers. Once themerger is complete, the Puget Sound Business Journal will be thesecond largest paper for the 41-paper chain in both circulation andemployees.