Katcher Vaughn & Bailey PR, the Nashville-based shop founded in 1996, is shutting down at the end of the month.

Aileen Katcher told the Nashville Post the impact of the Great Recession and rise of digital communications, which blurred the lines between advertising and PR, among reasons for the shutdown.

She said fellow partners Greg Bailey and Nancy DeKalb are at the stages in their lives “where they didn’t want to run a full-service firm.”

They decided to continue practicing PR as independent counselors.

KV&B generated fees of $1.1M in 2012, according to its O'Dwyer's ranking. That sum was down 3.7 percent. It ended the year with nine staffers.

The firm's website features a client list that includes Land Rover of Nashville, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee, Nashville Health Council, Hospital Alliance of Tennessee, Stites & Harbison (law firm), Metro Arts, Smith Seckman Reid (engineering firm), Blakeford at Green Hills (retirement community) and Metropolitan Government of Nashville.