• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 24, 2021

In 2020 the pandemic took its toll on Adland's rank and file as thousands were laid off due to the ensuing ad recession. Some of those jobs have been reinstated as business  has picked up this year. 

And some agencies were able to navigate last year's choppy landscape while winning new business and expanding capabilities. Case in point: Rochester-based agency Partners + Napier. The agency is on a hiring spree in the wake of a spurt of new business activity over the past year and the launch of an in-house production unit.

The agency has added new business from clients like Smashburger, MDLive, Real Good Fish and Rip Van. The new production unit, Gammut Productions was opened last fall.

The growth and expansion effort, said agency CEO Courtney Cotrupe, “has spurred our recent flurry of new hires.” She attributed Rochester’s “reputation as a great place to live” as helping the agency attract talent from around the country.

Recent hires include Matt Schwartz who has been named director, growth and who will manage all agency business development efforts. He was previously with Mother New York.

Lisa Della Piana has been hired as an associate creative director. She previously toiled at MullenLowe in Boston working on clients like Royal Caribbean, JetBlue and US Cellular.

Janine Perry has joined as director, strategy. She had worked as a senior strategist, brand & multicultural at Edelman in Washington DC. 

Rachel Meyer has joined the agency as director of media. She’ll work closely with Jordan Murphy, vice president group media director to continue building out the agency’s media practice which was integrated into the agency in 2018. She joined P+N from Dentsu’s mcgarrybowen in San Francisco where she was associate media director.