Growth and achievement highlight Caponigro PR’s first 10 years

When Jeff Caponigro founded Caponigro Public Relations in August 1995, it was a modest beginning, to say the least. Due to a non-compete agreement with the previous PR firm Jeff led before deciding to start his own company, Caponigro PR had no employees and no clients. Within two months, however, the new company had a handful of clients, a few employees and moved into new offices in Southfield’s Town Center complex.

Following is a chronology of some of the significant events and accomplishments that have highlighted the first 10 years of Caponigro Public Relations.

1995: The firm’s first three clients – Oakwood Hospital, the Greater Detroit Area Health Council and Kolene Corporation – form the foundation for rapid growth and mark the beginning of a tradition of successful relationships with diverse client organizations.

1997: The agency doubles in size and is well on its way to becoming one of the most successful and respected public relations firms, not only in southeast Michigan but nationwide. The client list includes high-tech companies, automotive suppliers, financial institutions and industry associations.

1998: The Crisis Counselor: A step-by-step guide to managing a business crisis by Jeff Caponigro is published. It becomes the best selling book on the subject of crisis management and is named by New York-based PR Week as “one of the 10 best public relations books.”

Walter Kraft, former news director at WXYZ-TV7, joins Caponigro PR and remains at the firm today as Executive Vice President. American Express Financial Advisors retains Caponigro PR to conduct media relations for its Michigan and Ohio market groups. The firm later is hired by the company’s Illinois and Pennsylvania markets.

2001: Jeff Caponigro becomes the first PR person in the Midwest over the past 10 years to be inducted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) into its prestigious College of Fellows, which honors lifetime achievement by U.S. public relations professionals.

Caponigro PR is hired by Oakland County Community College to promote its Combined Regional Emergency Services Training Center, a 22-acre “simulated city” designed to take emergency-response training to a new level by providing state-of-the-art, collaborative, reality-based training to meet the need for expanded, more effective and efficient emergency services, located in Oakland County.

2002: Caponigro PR plays a major role in the grand opening of the Edward H. McNamara/Northwest World Gateway at Detroit Metro Airport. CPR coordinates all media activities throughout Michigan, resulting in more than 500 newspaper, radio and television stories statewide.

PR Week, the New York-based magazine covering the U.S. public relations industry, publishes a list of the 20 “Greatest PR Campaigns Ever.” The list includes an automotive safety PR program that Jeff Caponigro helped lead during an eight-year period in the 1980s and 1990s. The campaign was directed by a coalition that was formed and funded by U.S. automotive manufacturers – called Traffic Safety Now – to encourage passage of seat-belt-use laws and to persuade motorists to buckle up.

2003: Caponigro PR becomes the first public relations firm to meet the stringent quality requirements to earn ISO 9001:2000 certification. An ISO 9001 quality system consists of a group of processes that a corporation employs to accomplish its work and meet customers’ requirements.

CPR is named one of the nation’s “Best PR Agencies to Work For” by The Holmes Report, the respected New York-based public relations publication. The recognition is based on a number of factors, including CPR’s low employee turnover and its outstanding employee benefits. Caponigro PR’s staff retreat is awarded first-place honors in the Detroit Regional Chamber’s “Best Practices” awards competition.

The firm receives several awards for its work on Camp Jeep, an exclusive, national three-day event for Jeep owners. Camp Jeep also is one of five projects selected as the top automotive-related special events by the SABRE Awards.

Caponigro PR establishes an endowment for a week-long workshop at Central Michigan University for minority high-school students. Named the Caponigro Multicultural Journalism Workshop, the workshop provides students with experience in news reporting, feature writing, photography, page design, online publishing and copy editing.

CPR expands into 10,000-square feet of new office space on the 17th floor of 4000 Town Center in Southfield. The new space includes state-of-the-art video and audio conferencing, video projection and online capabilities. In addition, the new office includes a media-training room with a simulated television talk-show set.

2005: Jeff Caponigro is elected vice chair of Central Michigan University’s Board of Trustees. He also serves as chairman of CMU’s Trustee-Student Liaison Committee, and a member of its Audit & Finance Committee and Facilities Subcommittee.

Caponigro PR works with many high-profile projects, including Habitat for Humanity’s Jimmy Carter project in Michigan; American Express Financial Advisors’ effort to brand in Michigan its new name Ameriprise Financial; and, Sears’ launch of its Home Health Centers (with former University of Michigan coach Bo Schembechler making personal appearances at Detroit-area stores).