ST. PAUL: Edelman subsidiary PR21 announced last week that it has chosen St. Paul for its latest expansion.
ST. PAUL: Edelman subsidiary PR21 announced last week that it has
chosen St. Paul for its latest expansion.
The selection is a somewhat unlikely one, given that the Twin Cities are
rarely mentioned in the same breath as hi-tech hotbeds such as Austin or
Boston. Still, office head Dave Jarzyna believes the agency is arriving
in the region at just the right time.
’We have the luxury of doing some work for other PR21 clients while we
build up business here,’ he said. The choice of St. Paul over
Minneapolis was also motivated by a desire to be closer to client 3M and
by CEO Will Sullivan’s extensive contacts in the city, where he still
has a home.
The agency has already snared its first client in the region: the
Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which runs the Metrodome
(home of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings). The office will also do work for
3M’s auto aftermarket division, Whirlpool and CompuLink Research (which
recently introduced a thumbprint-enabled PC mouse).
Jarzyna, who was hired away from Twin Cities integrated shop Colle &
McVoy, said that he plans to add to the office’s four-person staff as
soon as possible, and is working with local freelance PR pros in the
interim.
He expects brisk business in the hi-tech, new media and
business-to-business areas.
PR21 maintains co-headquarters in Chicago and New York, and also has a
San Francisco office. It is projecting PR revenues of dollars 5.5
million in 1999 and has 60 employees.
