Marketing: Founder Steps In to Take Charge
Of Daily Operations
The guard is changing once more at San Diego’s largest-grossing public relations firm.
Stoorza Communications, Inc. recently had its president and CEO resign after 19 months, and hired a new president. The local office’s general manager also announced his departure and the firm’s chairman and founder took over the CEO title once more.
Gail Stoorza-Gill, who started the company in 1974, said she will again be more involved in the company’s day-to-day activities.
Replacing firm president David De Pinto, who resigned March 23, is Patrick O’Reilly, who runs Stoorza’s Riverside office.
O’Reilly has been with Stoorza for 11 years, and developed the Riverside office.
Although specifics haven’t been finalized, O’Reilly could end up traveling a lot. He and his family live in Riverside, and he doesn’t plan to move to San Diego, where Stoorza has headquarters Downtown, Stoorza-Gill said.
O’Reilly’s position as president of the corporation will have him in charge of Stoorza’s public affairs practices in all of its five offices. He will also remain on the company’s board of directors.
On The Management Team
He will report to Stoorza-Gill and will be part of the company’s senior management team, which also consists of Stoorza-Gill and Chief Financial Officer Meg Polo.
O’Reilly’s promotion to president has been talked about by the company’s board of directors for two months, according to Stoorza-Gill.
De Pinto was involved in those talks and was supportive of the decision, she said.
Of De Pinto’s departure, though, Stoorza-Gill would only say he resigned. She gave no further comment, other than that De Pinto’s contributions to the firm during his tenure were “greatly appreciated.”
De Pinto, for his part, wished Stoorza and his replacement well and described his exit as “cordial.”
He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two young children and is looking forward to not traveling as much, having spent a lot of time at Stoorza’s five offices across the state. Other than San Diego, the company has offices in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Riverside and Fresno.
Close To Home
De Pinto had thought about resigning since January, he said. His move was motivated by an interest in following other business opportunities and staying closer to home, he said.
His family has a real estate company in L.A., and he plans to look into other public relations opportunities in Los Angeles, De Pinto said.
Also departing this month is Paul Sanchez, executive vice president and general manager for Stoorza’s San Diego office.
Sanchez’s last day will be April 15.
After 16 years with Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide, he came out of retirement last February to take the job with Stoorza.
According to Stoorza-Gill, Sanchez’s position was that of a consultant for issues of employee relations and human resources. He analyzed and reorganized Stoorza’s systems, she said.
Sanchez found that the San Diego office had a “pretty complex” structure, he said. Sanchez tried to simplify it, pulling two major product lines , public relations and public affairs , from the various activities the firm did.
Among the changes was closing Stoorza’s advertising agency, called Third Eye, in March 2000, Sanchez said. The company’s creative services are now integrated with Stoorza’s PR activities, he said.
Sanchez decided the San Diego office didn’t need a general manager. It needed separate people to head its public relations and public affairs practices, he said. Tom Shepard, who runs Stoorza’s public affairs divisions, now reports to O’Reilly.
An announcement of who would lead the local office’s public relations practice will be announced this week, Stoorza-Gill said.
Sanchez said with the company’s reorganization complete, it was time to consider his options for the future. He said he has found a communications management position with a consulting firm outside of San Diego.
The one constant in an industry such as public relations is change, whether in clients or staff, said Richard Flannery, CEO of the Flannery Group.
The Flannery Group is the No. 2 firm in the local market, according to the San Diego Business Journal’s annual rankings of local PR companies’ gross income.
Having the right mix of leadership is important to any company and high-level changes do happen, Flannery noted.
“It’s just something that’s part of your business plan,” he said, “and you just look for the best people to serve your clients. I think that’s important to do, whether a public relations or a high-tech company.”
Although a major adjustment in a company’s leadership requires some time for adjustment, it isn’t necessarily a negative thing, Flannery said.
“It’s just a change,” he said.
