Richmond taps Denver for ad effort

By: Louis Llovio

A little more than a month after Mayor Dwight C. Jones pledged to support the city's creative community, his administration has decided to award a contract to create a branding campaign for Richmond's economic development office to an advertising agency in Denver.

"As a small-business owner who pays taxes in the city, this stinks," said David Saunders, president of Richmond ad agency Madison + Main and a finalist for the contract. "That the organization in charge of promoting a city that has some of the best agencies in the country goes 2,000 miles away is just wrong."

Saunders, who bid on the contract and insists his anger is not based on losing the bid, said the contract is worth about $100,000.

He said he believes the work should have stayed in the Richmond community, which has gained international recognition in the advertising field with one of the top advertising agencies in the country, The Martin Agency, and one of the top graduate advertising schools in the country, the VCU Brandcenter.

The city's request for bids on the project, issued March 11, asked for ad agencies to bid on a contract for brand development, website design and creative services for the city's Department of Economic and Community Development.

The city posted a notice on its website Thursday that it intended to award the contract to Atlas Advertising in Denver.

Tammy D. Hawley, the mayor's press secretary, said Friday that the city is not permitted to discuss specifics on a bid that has not been finalized. But without mentioning Atlas by name, Hawley defended the decision.

"There are firms that have particular experience attracting" large corporations and investments to cities, she said.

In a follow-up email Friday afternoon, she added: "This is an effort to increase the city's appeal with site selectors, industries, prospectors and businesses looking to expand or relocate, and the work involves only the Department of Economic and Community Development."

Saunders said the contract being awarded to an out-of-state firm is particularly galling given that the mayor has publicly supported local efforts highlighting Richmond's creative community as an economic development tool.

Last month, Jones participated in an event that worked on finding ways to market Richmond as the "capital of creativity."

"We need to embrace the creative energy, and the city needs to create a platform for the energy to be released," Jones said at the June 23 event.

The event was the launch of i.e.*, a collaboration of businesses and creative leaders that aims to "transform this city from a Civil War attraction into a nationally renowned hotbed of creative talent." About 200 people from a variety of backgrounds attended the event.

Jones also has been a strong proponent of RVA Creates, an organization formed to help boost the area's creative reputation and businesses.

Until the contract is finalized, the city cannot release any details about other agencies that bid on the contract.

Hawley added that the economic development department "conducted a broad local outreach and invited local area firms to participate in this procurement. And some of them did compete."

Saunders said his firm has worked for Richmond's Department of Economic and Community Development in the past and also helped develop a branding campaign for Chesterfield County. And before launching Madison + Main, Saunders worked on a campaign to rebrand several localities in California's Los Angeles County.

Atlas specializes in providing creative services for economic development, real estate and tourism marketers.

According to the Atlas website, the agency has done work for more than 90 communities in 35 states in and six countries.

Hawley added that a portion of the contract requires that local subcontractors be used for some of the work. She could not be more specific.

Asked about where Jones stood on the decision to award the contract to a company outside the Richmond area, Hawley said "you can't target" a specific area in the contracting process.

The decision to award the contract, she said, was made by a panel, not the mayor.

Saunders, though, said Jones is ultimately responsible for his administration's decision.

Jones is "not practicing what he preaches," he said. "When he talked about the capital of creativity, I thought he meant Virginia, not Colorado."