The general economic malaise that has affected other cities’ PR agencies is beginning to affect some of Denver’s consumer-focused agencies. Several agencies have seen their staffs dwindle by as much as 50 percent, and word today is that Schenkein let six staffers go this week, which represents approximately 30 percent of its employee base.
Said Schenkein’s Leanna Clark, “We had some client losses late last year, and while we’ve brought in several new pieces of business in 08, they’ve not offset those losses. This, combined with the current economic outlook, has led us to reduce staff accordingly in order to realign our expectations and goals for the year.”
We expect that you will see a number of other Denver agencies shrink over the coming months, whether through formal layoffs or simply attrition. We give credit to Schenkein for being generous with its severance packages, though. Clark noted that “our top priority in this was to ensure we were treating all our staff, both those we’ve had to let go as well those who continue with us, with the utmost honesty, respect and dignity.”
Filed under: PR Moves
- GroundFloor Media has named Ramonna Tooley partner.
- Boulder-based SNAP! PR hired Sylvia Henry as account coordinator.
Filed under: Denver Business Journal
The macro-level economic data continues to trickle in, and the numbers aren’t comforting. Colorado’s rate of economic growth slowed to 2 percent in 2007, down from 3 percent in 2006 and 4.5 percent in 2005, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Colorado’s 2007 growth rate was near the median, ranking 22nd in the nation.
