McNeely Pigott & Fox

McNeelly Pigott & Fox (MP&F) is a public relations firm based in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. that works in media relations, crisis communications, marketing, government relations, grassroots organization, community relations, and media training.

Cleaning up Roane County's reputation
In May 2009, a group of local officials from Roane County, Tennessee, endorsed the firm's three-year, $1.9 million public relations campaign to boost the area's reputation after the December 2008 massive coal ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) Kingston coal-fired power station. The Roane County Long Term Recovery Committee asked TVA to bankroll the campaign, which would be carried out by McNeely Pigott & Fox. "The campaign would feature tracking polls to gauge current perceptions about Roane County," with "two years of advertising and a 'news bureau' that would cost $726,000 each year," reported the Knoxville News Sentinel. One of the PR firm's partners, Keith Miles, said the goal would be "overall reputation building for Roane County to the tourism and economic development industries." Another Nashville firm, Cooley Public Strategies, would assist with the campaign. "Soon after the ash spill, TVA contracted with The WadeGroup Inc., of Washington, D.C.," but "TVA has not provided a copy of the WadeGroup's contract despite several requests from the News Sentinel." TVA had earlier "agreed in principle" to fund a longer PR push.

History
The company was founded in 1987.

PR work

 * Creating annual reports - for FirstBank's expansion
 * Creating brochures - for Harpeth Hall School, a college-preparatory school for young women in grades five through 12. "MP&F's graphic arts department designed several advertisements based on the theme "The Top 50 Reasons to Send Your Daughter to Harpeth Hall." It also designed materials to support Harpeth Hall's annual giving campaign and completed the design and layout of the School's biannual capital campaign newsletter."
 * Wal-Mart Stores - "to help the company with store siting issues"
 * Media relations - 'many of our staff are former reporters', 'It's this kind of hands-on experience that keeps our clients in newspapers such as USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, and allows us to be sure clients’ messages reach the right people.'
 * Crisis communications - they train spokespeople, write statements, and deal directly with the media
 * Government relations - by way of lobbying, they "impact the decisions that affect our clients"
 * Grassroots projects - "Helping to sway public opinion starts at the grassroots level"
 * Marketing and communications - they do "national advertising campaigns to effective Web sites to unique printed pieces"

Personnel

 * Mark McNeely, Senior Partner
 * Mike Pigott, Founding Partner / Senior Counsel
 * David Fox, Partner
 * Katy Varney, Partner
 * Keith Miles, Partner
 * Dave Cooley, Partner
 * Roger Shirley, Editorial Director
 * Jennifer Brantley, Vice President
 * Mandy Cawood, Vice President
 * Alice Pearson Chapman, Vice President
 * Andrew Maraniss, Vice President
 * Courtenay Rossi, Vice President

Income and employee totals
According to O'Dwyer's, MP&F earned $6,709,121 in net fees in 2006, an increase of 14.1% over the previous year. The firm has 70 employees.

PR Week ranked McNeely Pigott & Fox as the forty-seventh largest independent PR agency in the United States in 2008, with 2007 revenue of $7,904,858, an 18% increase from the previous year's total revenue of $6,709,121. The ranking also notes its staff total of 67 (2006 total: 71), with $117,983 in revenue per employee.

Clients

 * AT&T
 * Corrections Corporation of America
 * CSX Transportation
 * Dell
 * Eli Lilly
 * General Services Administration (GSA)
 * Genesco
 * Nashville Chamber of Commerce
 * Oak Ridge National Laboratory
 * PhRMA
 * Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Contact details
611 Commerce Street, Suite 2800 Nashville, TN 37203 Phone: (615) 259-4000 Toll-free: (800) 818-6953 Fax: (615) 259-4040 Email: info AT mpf.com Web: http://www.mpf.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill