Patch, the community-specific news and information site acquired by AOL in June, has announced the launch of two new Web sites in Summit, New Jersey and Darien, Connecticut. The media company also announced the hiring of Scott Colontonio as its first regional publisher, who comes to Patch from Gannett Digital, where he was director of Digital Advertising Sales.

“I’m excited about joining the innovative team at Patch,” said Colontonio. “Patch is emblematic of the media’s online evolution, and it’s the logical next step in my career. The interplay between reporter, reader, and advertiser is changing rapidly, and it’s invigorating to be at a company that understands how that dynamic is changing, and where it’s going.”

Two renowned journalism professionals sit on the Patch editoral advisory board: Phil Meyer, professor emeritus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and Jeff Jarvis, associate professor and director of the Interactive Journalism program at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism.