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Mark McNeelyMP&F Public Relations founder Mark McNeely will step down from his role as a senior partner, the Nashville-based agency reported today.
McNeely now plans to launch a new strategic communications firm, McNeely Brockman PR, along with his daughter Kelly McNeely Brockman.
That new operation, which will focus on media relations, media training, crisis communications and strategic planning, will be housed inside MP&F’s Nashville facilities. It is set to launch on June 1. McNeely and Brockman will be the sole leaders of the new venture.
A former journalist with The Knoxville Journal, Memphis’ The Commercial Appeal and the Knoxville News Sentinel, McNeely founded the firm that became MP&F in 1987. Current clients include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, FirstBank, Math for America, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, PhRMA and the Ohio Valley Conference.
McNeely stepped down as MP&F managing partner in 2016. He was succeeded in that role by David Fox. MP&F’s other founding partner, fellow former newspaperman Mike Pigott, died in 2015.
McNeely will continue to maintain a role with MP&F, working alongside the company’s teams on clients as requested while building his own book of business.
MP&F is the largest independent, Tennessee-owned PR firm in the state. The Nashville firm in 2016 accounted for more than $7.8 million in net fees.
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