Jason Taylor has been promoted to advertising director of The Honolulu Advertiser after heading up the newspaper's retail advertising department for nearly a year.

"While Jason has only been with the company a little less than a year, he has significantly over- achieved as retail manager. The energy, creativity and enthusiasm he has brought to the department is significant and reflected by double-digit retail growth rates this year," said Jeffrey Green, The Advertiser's senior vice president for advertising and marketing.

Taylor replaces Stan Howard, who was named the advertising director of the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader in South Dakota.

Before joining The Honolulu Advertiser, Taylor served as general manager of The Times in Gainesville, Ga., where he had improved the operating efficiency of the paper by 15 percent.

He began his newspaper career in 1997 as director of advertising and marketing at The Daily News Journal in Murfeesboro, Tenn., and significantly boosted the paper's revenue during a five-year period.

Taylor was recognized by Presstime as one of the top 20 newspaper executives under 40 in 2001. He graduated from The University of Evansville with a B.A. in Interpersonal Communication and obtained a masters in psychology from Indiana University.