Mike Pigott, founding partner of McNeely Pigott & Fox PR in Nashville, died June 29 from a heart attack. He was 61.
The former newspaperman teamed with Mark McNeely in 1988 and later with David Fox to build the Nashville firm that ranked 54th on O'Dwyer's listing of independent firms with 2014 fees of $6.7M and 56 staffers.
MP&F has done work for Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Hospital Corp. of America, Country Music Hall of Fame, Skanska Construction, CSX Transportation, BlueCross/Blue Shield of Tennessee, Feld Entertainment, Tennessee Titans and The Hermitage.
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said Pigott "understood Nashville as well as anyone did."
MP&F PR posted on its site: "Mike Pigott was one of a kind. Talented writer, a loving husband and father, the quickest wit in any gathering, world traveler and ballroom dancer extraordinaire. Everyone who knew him has lost a true friend and our hearts go out to Sharon, his three wonderful daughters and the many other members of his family."
DJE Holdings, parent of Edelman and Zeno, launches RUTH as an independent shop named after Ruth Edelman, mental health advocate, wife and longtime business partner of Dan Edelman.
New York City PR firms make up the largest slice of O'Dwyer's 147 firm overall ranking with 33 of 40 in the New York/New Jersey area either calling Manhattan their home or having a presence there.
Subject Matter+Kivvit, which joined forces in May, has rebranded as Avoq, an integrated shop with more than 200 professionals in Washington, New York, Asbury Park (NJ), Miami and Chicago.
While PR pros stationed at in-house comms. teams and those working for agencies share many of the same objectives, they also have markedly different top priorities, according to a recent report.
Edelman is cutting 240 employees or about four percent of its workforce to cope with the cooling down of the PR sector, according to a memo from CEO Richard Edelman.
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