Agency’s Demise Viewed With Sadness, Surprise

Agency’s Demise Viewed With Sadness, Surprise

BY TANYA RODRIGUES



Staff Writer






News of longtime heavyweight Stoorza Communications’ closing rippled through San Diego’s public relations industry last week, sparking reactions of sadness and some surprise.






For many years, the 28-year-old independently owned firm had been widely considered the largest in town, if not the state, in billings and employee count.






At its largest, Stoorza had close to 90 employees and five offices, a political consulting division, and some coveted clients.






Last year, the firm reported to the San Diego Business Journal that it had an adjusted gross income of $4.26 million in 2000, its largest ever.






On May 30, the agency announced it had shut down the day before. In an interview last week, Gail Stoorza-Gill, the firm’s founder, chairman and CEO, said the decision has been in the works for the last few years.






Last July, it spun off offices in Sacramento and Riverside, selling them to the partners who ran them and closed the Los Angeles office. Major executives in the firm had also come and gone during recent years.






In the meantime, the San Diego operations continued to bid for and seek PR work when appropriate, Stoorza-Gill said.






She would not disclose the firm’s 2001 fees nor clients as of May 30. Clients, and the firm’s eight employees, were referred to other agencies in town. She wouldn’t identify the firms.






Multiple Factors For Decision






Stoorza-Gill said factors such as clients in technology and other industries not paying fees owed, the economy, the company’s role in the PR marketplace and personal burnout counted into her decision to shutter the agency.






“Here’s where I really went wrong,” she said. “I had thought for many years that there was a very strong place in the marketplace for a regional, independent public relations firm. I do not believe there’s a place anymore for that.”






Other PR executives in town lauded Stoorza’s accomplishments and wondered about its demise.






“I’m sorry to see it, actually,” said Bill Trumpfheller, president of longtime local firm Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, Inc. “Gail did a great job of building her firm into one of the powerhouses of public relations, not just in San Diego, but the whole West Coast.”






Jonathan Bailey, CEO of marketing firm Bailey Gardiner Inc. and immediate past president of the Public Relations Society of America’s local chapter, said Stoorza had a terrific reputation.






“There’s been a lot of talented people who have worked there,” he said. “Gail obviously has a lot of talent, or she would never have gotten the agency to the size it was.”






Tech Impact Widespread






Bailey was surprised to read that Stoorza’s problems stemmed in part from their work with tech clients.






Many agencies in town took the same hit a year ago, and survived by diversifying into other industries, he said.






Similar troubles were reportedly the reason that another longtime firm that ventured into focusing on tech clients, the Gable Group, closed last year.






“I don’t think it helps the reputation of our industry when such giants as Gable and Stoorza fall,” Bailey said. He said San Diego agencies continually have to prove themselves to clients who think they need to go out of market.






“I just think it could potentially cause question in some people’s minds as to whether San Diego has the chops for it. Of course, my counter to that is ‘We most definitely do.’ ”






Bonnie Kutch, who worked for Stoorza from 1985 to 1990, eventually becoming director of the PR division, said she had mixed feelings about the agency closing.






“They were seen as the leader. It’s sad to see them close the doors, and also see something you were so much a part of and something that influenced your life so much disappear,” said Kutch, who owns her own firm, Kutch