My agency Beckerman (www.beckermanpr.com) was recently featured in an NJ Biz article about our company growth. I thought it would be worth posting to here, and yes, I'm included in the photo towards the bottom, all the way to the left!
Building on clean tech from real estate roots
Beckerman’s expansion strategy puts public relations firm’s new focus on emerging energy clients
Monday, July 12, 2010 12:00 AM
By Evelyn Lee
By Evelyn Lee
Evelyn Lee covers real estate, economic development and the environment for NJBIZ. She has been a staff reporter here since 2006. 
“Clean technology is going to be here for a long time,” said Keith Zakheim, president of the Hackensack-based firm. “It’s at the confluence of three really important trends” — a push from the federal government to increase renewable-energy use; greater efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and national security concerns, as the purchase of fossil fuels tends to support countries that are not U.S. allies.
Through a series of major acquisitions, Michael Beckerman, CEO of Beckerman Public Relations, says his company will become ‘the dominant brand, nationally, for sustainibility.’ [Christina Mazza]
Since then, the company has scooped up two other PR firms — Wise PR, a Manhattan-based digital media specialist firm, in September 2009, and last month, Antenna Group Inc., a San Francisco-based PR firm specializing in clean-tech companies.
With the Antenna acquisition, Beckerman is now the largest clean technology PR firm in the country, with 35 clients between its Hackensack and San Francisco offices, Zakheim said.
Of the company’s 50 employees, about 18 are dedicated to clean technology, and will work under the Antenna brand, which Beckerman will retain as a subsidiary.
“Clean tech is clearly an area we want to be a category killer in,” said Michael Beckerman, CEO. “We will be the dominant brand, nationally, for sustainability.”
Beckerman, 46, made a name for his company, which he founded in 1989, by amassing a client base featuring some of the most prominent names in New Jersey real estate, such as Advance Realty Group, CB Richard Ellis and NAI James E. Hanson — each of which has been a client for more than a decade.
Beckerman Public Relations CEO Michael Beckerman, second from right, said his continuing growth strategy involves acquiring additional public relations firms that handle clean energy. Here, Beckerman stands in the firm’s Hackensack office with, from left, Eric Fischgrund, senior account executive; Jason Heller, associate account executive; and Cassandra Carpio, account executive. [Christina Mazza]
That may have come, however, at the expense of what some critics have called high turnover at the company.
“I am a tough guy to work for,” he said. “I drive people hard, and I want people working for me that are going to really, really kill for their clients.” Turnover is “a byproduct of this culture that I’ve built, which is always focused on client retention.”
Retention, however, will be joined by expansion, as Beckerman continues its aggressive pace of acquisitions. “I really wanted to diversify the firm, and use the economy’s contraction as an opportunity to go out and acquire other PR firms,” he said. The company plans to make one or two acquisitions every year over the next five years, with a focus on clean-technology PR firms over the next two years.
“We’re growing in very strategic locations, where clean tech is driving the economy,” identifying Boston, Denver and Texas as locations where the industry is strongest. The company also aims to open a second New York office, which will be devoted to clean technology.
Meanwhile, the company also is building its clean-technology client base in the Garden State, said Zakheim, who is heading up the acquisitions for the company and will oversee its clean-technology practice. “In clean tech, New Jersey is fast becoming one of the major players in the country,” because of the various incentives and rebates the state offers for solar and other renewable-energy projects, he said.
While all Beckerman’s clean-technology clients had previously been based on the West Coast, the firm has begun signing more New Jersey companies in the past three or four months, and now represents four local businesses.Clean technology is driving much of the company’s growth. Prior to its acquisition of Avalanche, real estate accounted for about 80 percent of Beckerman’s revenue; that industry now makes up only 25 percent of its billings, while clean technology is responsible for 50 percent, Beckerman said.
The real estate slowdown “didn’t adversely affect us that much, because the nature of PR is companies need you in good times and in bad times,” Beckerman said, though the company lost 10 percent of its client base during the downturn.
But, “I still see real estate as a growth opportunity for us,” he added, including national expansion. The firm is picking up more real estate clients in New York, and also expects big growth on the real estate front in San Francisco, he said.
Meanwhile, in clean technology, the company already has created a comfortable lead over its competitors.
“They’re stepping up to the plate and we’re rounding second base already, heading towards third,” Beckerman said. “We’re extremely well-positioned in that niche. I want to keep going.”
