during the 1960s, he continued as publisher of the missoulian in missoula, montana. while in montana he was elected vice president of the lee newspapers of montana, which included missoula, billings, helena, butte & livingston. he was elected a director of lee enterprises in 1963 and served on the board for thirty-seven years. in 1970 he moved to iowa and became the chief executive officer of lee enterprises, a national newspaper and media company. schermer served as a director and as chairman of the american newspaper publishers association in washington, dc, now part of the newspaper association of america.