Fahlgren Mortine is thriving in their 14 locations. Columbus is their headquarters, but they have an expanding presence throughout the U.S. With 160 or so employees, they are one of the 30 top independent communications, advertising, and PR firms according to O’Dwyers. They also have received some pretty big awards over the years.
A lot can be said of the company, the awards, their impressive growth, and impressive client list. But what love to talk about (in addition to their clients) is the company culture. Interns love working there because team spirit shines throughout the company, and they get opportunities to do the real work with other employees.
Fahlgren’s employees also have a great time as the company holds a variety of fun get-togethers, parties, contests and the like, including corn-on-the-cob eating, kickball games, happy hours, and miniature golf tournaments. The culture in the company is youthful, and they happen to like it that way.
Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations Running the Columbus Ohio PR Industry
Maybe Neil Mortine said it best, “I have always believed that great culture attracts the best people, and the best people attract the best clients.”
The Fahlgren firm was first organized in 1962 in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Between 1962 and 1988 they acquired a number of other firms expanding into other cities in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida. In 1988, they were acquired by Lintas New York Inc., a subsidiary of The Interpublic Group of Companies and stayed with them until Interpublic was acquired by Ammirati & Puris. The new company happened to be the creative head for Burger King while Fahlgren was representing several McDonald’s co-ops. The resulting conflict gave Fahlgren the opportunity to buy themselves back. They did exactly that.
In 2009, Neil Mortine became CEO and continued leading the firm to further acquisitions. They now have satellite offices in Boise ID, Dayton, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo OH, Charleston and Parkersburg WV, Denver CO, Ft. Lauderdale FL, Greenville and Myrtle Beach SC, Lexington KY, and New York City.
They work with all kinds of industries for clients but have had extra experience and success in the tourism, healthcare, education, and B2B/technology areas. Some of their impressive list of clients include Emerson Climate Technologies & Emerson Network Power, Elmer’s Products, Kent State University, McDonald’s (co-ops in Florida, Ohio, and the Carolinas), and tourism for Nevada, Utah, the Bahamas, and other locations.
Fahlgren Mortine PR belong to IPREX 4As and the Council of Public Relations Firms – and are one of the few PR firms in Columbus, Ohio.