Public relations agencies: ranked by 2001 L.A. County fee income.

Summary

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Illustration - Statistical Data Included

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Public relations agencies: ranked by 2001 L.A. County fee income.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

THE recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks took a toll on the public relations industry nationwide in 2001. L.A. firms, which had enjoyed significant growth a year earlier, saw their fee income fall by more than 8 percent.

The Top 25 PR shops in L.A. brought in a combined fee income of $218 million, vs. $237.2 million in 2000. Not surprisingly, the decline in work led to layoffs and a few shops were forced to shut down.

Stoorza Communications, once among the Top 25, closed its L.A. office as part of a company-wide cutback by the San Diego-based firm. WPP Group suspended operations at the L.A. office and laid off the local staff of Carl Byoir & Associates.

But it wasn't all bad news. Some firms were able to improve on their 2000 numbers, despite the challenging environment. Among the top performers, Weber Shandwick, Hill & Knowlton and Winner & Associates LLC all posted fee income gains. Meanwhile, Fleishman-Hillard Inc. fell only slightly, to $20.8 million, from $20.9 million in 2000.

Claudia Peschiutta

THE PACESETTER

WEBER SHANDWICK/ROGERS & COWAN

HARD times didn't keep Weber Shandwick's L.A. office down last year. The firm managed to jump to No. 1, thanks in part to a m...

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