Lynn Casey ran Padilla for 17 years and engineered the deal that ended its independence on her own terms. She is now chair of Padilla, the Minneapolis-based agency she led through two transformational mergers and a 2018 sale to Montreal-based Avenir Global. Her story is how an independent PR firm gets to the top — and what it takes to hand it off without breaking it.
From Bismarck to the Twin Cities
Casey earned her master’s in mass communications from the University of Minnesota in 1979. She joined Brum & Anderson in 1983. When that firm merged with Padilla & Spear in 1987 to form Padilla, Spear and Beardsley, she was already on the senior track. She became COO in 1997 and CEO in 2001 — taking the corner office in a post-9/11 economy that forced her to make hard calls fast.
The PadillaCRT era
In 2013, Casey orchestrated the merger between Padilla Speer Beardsley and CRT/tanaka — creating PadillaCRT, a top-10 independent PR and communications firm with offices in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Norfolk, Richmond, and Washington D.C. The firm dropped the CRT suffix and rebranded simply as Padilla a few years later. Client roster included 3M, Mayo Clinic, Cargill Animal Nutrition, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.
Selling to Avenir Global — on her terms
In August 2018, Casey closed Padilla’s sale to Avenir Global, the Montreal-based communications holding company also home to Shift Communications and Axon. Terms were not disclosed. Padilla’s annual revenue at the time of the deal was roughly $40 million; the firm had 210 employees across six U.S. offices.
Padilla had been employee-owned through an ESOP since 1992 — meaning roughly 250 current and former employees benefited from the sale. Casey, then 63, was explicit about why she avoided a publicly held buyer: she did not want the firm cut up for quarterly margins. She told Twin Cities Business the firm was not for sale, but Avenir was the right fit.
She moved into the chair role. President Matt Kucharski — a Padilla lifer since 1989 — took over day-to-day operations as the agency’s new operating leader. Both reported to Avenir CEO Jean-Pierre Vasseur.
Recognition and current roles
Casey was inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame by Twin Cities Business in 2014. The University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communications named her Alumni Award for Excellence recipient in 2006. The Minnesota Chapter of Women on Boards named her Nonprofit Director of the Year in 2007. Under her leadership, Padilla was named Holmes Report’s Best Large Agency to Work For.
Beyond Padilla, Casey serves on the board of Xcel Energy — elected after the Avenir deal closed — and as vice chair of the University of Minnesota Foundation. She has been active in the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable and the Itasca Project.
Why this matters now
Casey’s arc tracks the structural shift inside the independent PR business. Two decades of organic growth. Two transformational mergers. An ESOP that protected employees through the transition. A sale to a global holding company that preserved the brand and the team rather than gutting it. In an industry where roll-ups have a track record of destroying the very thing they acquired, Casey’s exit was the unusual case — a clean handoff with the operating culture intact.
Padilla today operates as a top U.S. independent firm under Avenir Global, with continued depth in food and beverage, agribusiness, health, manufacturing, technology, and consumer brands. Her track record also placed her in the broader conversation about women in PR leadership — alongside other agency founders and operators who built the firms they now lead or have handed off.
Lynn Casey is the chair and former CEO of Padilla, a top independent U.S. public relations firm headquartered in Minneapolis. She led the agency for 17 years before stepping down as CEO in 2018, when the firm was acquired by Montreal-based Avenir Global. She remains chair of Padilla and serves on the board of Xcel Energy.
What happened to PadillaCRT?
PadillaCRT was the name adopted after the 2013 merger between Padilla Speer Beardsley and CRT/tanaka. The firm later dropped the CRT suffix and now operates simply as Padilla. In August 2018, Padilla was acquired by Avenir Global.
Who runs Padilla today?
Matt Kucharski is the president of Padilla, leading day-to-day operations. Lynn Casey remains chair. The agency operates as part of Avenir Global, whose other U.S. firms include Shift Communications and Axon.
How big is Padilla?
At the time of its 2018 sale, Padilla reported approximately $40 million in annual revenue, with 210 employees across six U.S. offices including Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Richmond.
When was Padilla founded?
The firm traces back to 1961. Its modern structure was shaped by the 1987 merger that created Padilla Speer Beardsley and the 2013 merger with CRT/tanaka that formed PadillaCRT.
Lynn Casey is the chair and former CEO of Padilla, a top independent U.S. public relations firm headquartered in Minneapolis. She led the agency for 17 years before stepping down as CEO in 2018, when the firm was acquired by Montreal-based Avenir Global. She remains chair of Padilla and serves on the board of Xcel Energy.
What happened to PadillaCRT?
PadillaCRT was the name adopted after the 2013 merger between Padilla Speer Beardsley and CRT/tanaka. The firm later dropped the CRT suffix and now operates simply as Padilla. In August 2018, Padilla was acquired by Avenir Global.
Who runs Padilla today?
Matt Kucharski is the president of Padilla, leading day-to-day operations. Lynn Casey remains chair. The agency operates as part of Avenir Global, whose other U.S. firms include Shift Communications and Axon.
How big is Padilla?
At the time of its 2018 sale, Padilla reported approximately $40 million in annual revenue, with 210 employees across six U.S. offices including Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Richmond.
When was Padilla founded?
The firm traces back to 1961. Its modern structure was shaped by the 1987 merger that created Padilla Speer Beardsley and the 2013 merger with CRT/tanaka that formed PadillaCRT.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
