Mower

Mower chairman and CEO Eric Mower transfers 100 percent ownership of the company to employees via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Mower will remain in his current position, as will other senior Mower executives. About 150 of the agency’s employees will become “employee owners” at no cost to them, with equity in the business and an additional retirement benefit. “The ESOP allows Mower to remain independent, to maintain our professional standards and practices and for our employees to know that their future is in their hands,” said Mower. The company’s employee owners are based across the U.S., including New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Miami, Charlotte, Cincinnati, and four major upstate New York cities—Buffalo, Albany, Rochester and Syracuse.

Worldcom

The Worldcom Public Relations Group appoints Todor Ianev to a second term as chair. Ianev, managing director of Janev & Janev in Sofia, Bulgaria, will serve alongside The Pollack Group president Stefan Pollack, who is vice chair for a second year. RLF Communications partner Monty Hagler will serve as chair of the group’s North American committee. Luis Avellaneda, managing director of Lima, Peru’s Realidades, will serve a second term as chair of the LATAM committee and Serge Beckers of Wiese Kommunkikatie in Amhem, The Netherlands is staying on as chair of the EMEA committee.

Edge

Edge Partners, a private equity and strategic growth firm, launches Edge Creative Growth, which offers marketing services to RIAs (registered investment advisors). The venture, which is led by Edge Partners CMO Silvia Roa-Madan, will offer its services as a stand-alone capability for marketing clients or as an integrated capability supporting Edge's private equity growth partnerships. The services Edge Creative Growth provides include acquisition & transition focused marketing, digital content strategy, account-based marketing and brand development. "Our goal is to help wealth management firms create and communicate a differentiated identity, one that makes them stand out as an attractive destination for clients and business partners," said Roa-Madan.