The Kenosha News and Journal Sentinel, Inc. of Milwaukee have reached agreement to print and package the News at the Journal Sentinel’s production plant in West Milwaukee.

Terms of the five-year agreement were not disclosed. Production is expected to shift to the Journal’s Burnham Street facility with the edition dated Aug. 26.

Ken Dowdell, publisher of the News, said the production arrangements will have no impact on the content of the newspaper and minimal effect on its delivery schedule. He indicated that 13 full-time and 40 part-time Kenosha News employees will be affected. They have been offered the opportunity to work during a two-month transition period and receive outplacement assistance, retraining options and severance packages beyond that.

“Businesses face the challenge of restructuring from time to time,” Dowdell said. “Operating and capital costs, under scrutiny because of the recession and developments in the information industry, point to a change in how we produce our printed newspaper. The Journal Sentinel’s flexibility in newspaper sectioning and color reproduction will provide new and enhanced services to readers and advertisers.”

Dowdell said the newsprint editions remain the cornerstone of a portfolio of information products that are being produced in various formats, in print and digitally.

Howard J. Brown, president of the Kenosha News, said the newspaper will maintain its commitment to greater Kenosha and to the concept of a free press in its print and online products.

“A newspaper wraps a community together,” Brown said. “It keeps readers informed about life in our world and their world. It brings good news and bad news. It pleases some and outrages others. But ultimately, the truth prevails in its columns. That tradition, now 115 years old at the Kenosha News, will continue.”

The Journal Sentinel’s plant publishes daily editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and regional editions of USA Today, under contract with Gannett Co., Inc.