Times are good for Orange County’s public relations firms.
The 32 largest firms here by employment saw a 7% rise in workers in the past year and now count 372 workers in their ranks, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
Fee income, based on reports from a handful of firms,only 12 reported figures,appear to have driven the hiring.
The 12 firms that provided fee income numbers saw them rise 13% to $20.1 million for the 12 months through March.
The overall strong economy, led by real estate, technology and healthcare, spurred demand for public relations work.
Most firms took on projects, saw more requests to bid on jobs and had clients willing to plunk down a bit more on retainers.
“I’m optimistic about our industry,” said David Paine, chief executive of No. 1 PainePR Inc. in Irvine. “A lot of money is coming to public relations that used to go to advertising.”
Still, some public relations firms are looking to 2007 with cautious optimism. Already, the group’s employment growth has slowed from 2005’s 16% rate.
The rate of fee income growth also appears to have slowed.
“There are reports now of economic slowness,” Paine said. “That’s going to show up here like it shows up everywhere.”
So far so good, said Hilary Kaye, president of No. 13 Tustin-based Hilary Kaye Associates Inc.
“We are a generalist agency and therefore are not affected by downturns in any specific industry,” Kaye said. “This has helped us weather several serious recessions since we opened our doors.”
Hilary Kaye added four people in the past year, bringing the firm’s local public relations employment to 11.
“All businesses need to be cautious” in 2007, Kaye said. “There are many things happening on a global basis that affect everyone. I have always been cautious as far as business planning and implementation.”
Kaye declined to provide fee income for the list but said billings grew 50% in the past year, mostly from new clients, including MaggieMoo’s International LLC in Maryland, Perfume Bay in Huntington Beach and Lyndon Group LLC in Newport Beach.
PainePR easily topped the list with 31 local public relations workers, down by one person from a year ago. The shop didn’t disclose its fee income figure, but said billings grew 10% for the 12 months through March. Clients include Procter & Gamble Co.’s Pampers and American Suzuki Motor Corp. in Brea.
PainePR, part of Canada’s Cossette Communication Group Inc., has been growing its healthcare practice and is looking to boost other areas, such as real estate, corporate relations and business-to-business, Paine said.
“We’ll try to better reflect what the market is in OC,” Paine said. “If we do that, we’ll see better growth.”
PainePR, which has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, may open another one in San Francisco, according to Paine.
OC is a “relatively flat business market right now, at least for us,” Paine said.
The local public relations sector could grow 3% to 7% in 2007, he said.
No. 2 Freeman/McCue Public Relations in Santa Ana added one person for a total of 21 local workers.
Principal Doug Freeman said the shop picked up some accounts in the past year, including Cirrus Design of Minnesota and Tyr Sport Inc. in Huntington Beach.
“We’re pretty bullish moving forward,” Freeman said.
Freeman/McCue ex-pects to finish this year with revenue up 14% to 15%, he said.
Like others, Freeman said he’s watching the economy.
When costs rise, “any component of the marketing community to some degree is affected,” Freeman said.
“It causes us all to be a bit more creative,” he said. “Technically, that’s what we get paid for.”
The Irvine office of New York-based Hill and Knowlton Inc. came in at No. 3 with an estimated 20 workers.
Four firms tied for the No. 4 spot with 17 local workers: Santa Ana-based Bock Communications Inc., Allen & Caron Inc. in Irvine, Mission Viejo-based Maples Communications Inc. and Irvine-based Amies Communications.
Amies, which specializes in real estate, added three people in the past year, the most of the group tied for fourth.
The firm grew with new work, particularly in affordable and high-rise housing, economic development and real estate investment, President Jessica Spaulding said.
“We have a number of existing accounts that have grown,” Spaulding said. “They are asking us to get more involved in their business and we are providing a greater level of brand strategy and implementation and account planning.”
Bock Communications was down by one person from a year earlier. The firm’s fee income grew 5% to $2 million.
Chief Executive Christine Bock said her firm won several technology accounts in the past year, including Redwood City-based Visto Corp. The shop is hiring, including for a new Boston office, Bock said.
“There’s more marketing dollars out there right now,” she said. “People are allocating more money to their integrated marketing communications programs. PR is a slice of that.”
Bock Communications also is on the hunt for bigger local offices, Bock said.
Maples Communications, which added one person in the past year, grew work with existing clients and picked up several projects, according to President Bob Maples.
The firm, which recently doubled its size at a new Mission Viejo building, reported fee income up 12% to $3.2 million for the 12 months through March.
“We’ve been increasing the budgets of our clients to do more online work,” Maples said. “A lot of our work now is focused on taking care of stuff online like writing content for Web sites and doing podcastings.”
Maples could grow billings 30% to 50% from now until mid next year, he said.
Two firms are new to the list: No. 23 Tustin-based WunderMarx Inc. and No. 29 Young Co. in Laguna Beach.
