Ronn TorossianRonn Torossian
There are only about 80 independently owned PR agencies in the United States with more than 20 employees. It's a tiny industry that receives so much attention and focus, and provides an amazing opportunity for us entrepreneurs who are able to serve only the best interests of our clients.

Our industry is dominated by multi-billion-dollar multi-national publicly traded conglomerates that have agencies with the same ownership fighting one another over every cent. While all of us in the marketing communications agency world are adapting to an ever-changing marketing mix, independents alone are able to guide clients into which PR initiatives work best for their brands and are not driven by our holding company’s stock price. We alone help guide our clients into what marketing initiatives make sense for them to invest in, and are not driven by our parent company’s motives to build business in associated market sectors.

We alone decide what bonuses and raises to give employees, and are not subject to the whims of holding companies. It’s an exciting, changing time for PR firms, and I think it’s one of the reasons there’s been so many PR firms who sold this year. Content creation, digital media: these are growth and adaptation areas which smart agencies are working in.

As an independently owned firm, I’m proud that we’re agile and able to move quickly, and I commend other well-run, smart independent competitors who cherish hard work and the firm philosophy of entrepreneurship. Agencies owned by people like my colleagues and friends Sean Cassidy of DKC PR, and Tom Coyne of Coyne PR; these are formidable, smart agency owners that I believe are, like us, the right firm for clients of all sizes who want smart full-scale PR and marketing initiatives. I am proud that the largest agency in the world is an independent.

Because we make the decisions, we’re able to hire and retain smart, senior talent who we are reward for their hard work. The Public Relations industry isn’t being phased out of the cycle, we’re growing and changing and 2017 will be a year where independent agencies continue to grow — we are focused on client work, and not earn outs.

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Proud entrepreneur and firm owner Ronn Torossian is the founder, CEO and president of 5WPR, a leading independent PR firm. He has been named Public Relations Executive of the Year by the American Business Awards, and is the author of “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations" (2011). Mr. Torossian is also a partner, Chief Marketing Officer and advisory board member of JetSmarter.