Rockey Acquires Jennifer West Public Relations

The Rockey Co., a Seattle-based public relations firm, has purchased Jennifer West Public Relations and merged the two companies’ Spokane staffs.

Jennifer West started her firm in 1992 and has since represented about a dozen clients and won several awards.

The Rockey Co. is among the nation’s largest independent public relations firms. The company represents Washington Mutual, Boeing, Nintendo, the Seattle Mariners and other large companies.

“We’ve brought together a very strong local firm and a very strong regional firm,” said West, who becomes the president of Rockey’s Spokane operations.

“The company has been looking for areas of growth and strategically Spokane is a very important market,” said John Hough, co-president of the 35-year-old firm. “We view Jennifer as a very gifted practitioner.”

West had four part- and full-time staff, and Rockey had four until the departure of two employees to the fast-growing technology company Packet Engines Inc. of Spokane. The combined Rockey/West Public Relations will have six employees, West said.

The two sides worked together representing GTE Wireless, West said, and began discussing a possible merger.

Hough said the recent departure of Nancy Goodspeed, the general manager of Rockey’s Spokane office, to Packet Engines “accelerated” the merger process, but the parties had already discussed the idea before Goodspeed’s move, he said.

West previously worked for public relations firms in Seattle and Spokane.

Hough said The Rockey Co. will now try to purchase a firm in Portland or expand the size of its office there.

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