A Bethesda communications firm has opened a Baltimore office as its leaders want to be closer to its nonprofit clients.
The Hatcher Group, whose clients include the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Open Society Institute, opened an office last month at 1501 St. Paul St.
The company employs 16 in Bethesda and three in its new Baltimore office, including two former Baltimore Sun reporters.
The number of clients in the Baltimore area has grown in the last few years to about 10, says Hatcher Group Senior Vice President Tom Waldron. The company has a total of about 50 clients.
"It seems the time was here to open the Baltimore office," Waldron says.
Waldron says the company sees its mission as more than PR, but rather helping clients effect social change and influence public policy.
"We're really excited about being in Baltimore full time," Waldron says. "We wanted to show that we care about the work we're doing in Baltimore" to clients.
Other Baltimore clients include the Family League of Baltimore City Inc. and the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.
The company shares the space with Web design firm
Drexler.
The Hatcher Group selected the
Mount Vernon neighborhood because it was looking for something that is reasonably close to downtown and its clients, says Waldron, a former Sun state house bureau chief. It's also close to Penn Station, making it convenient to reach clients in Washington, D.C., and New York.
"Plus it's a really cool space," with 17-foot ceilings, Waldron says.
Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Tom Waldron, Hatcher Group