Makovsky + Company announced nine promotions this week, begging the question, what are these guys doing right?

As it turns out, the 30-year old agency pulled out all the stops in the downturn to help both clients and staff stick around, and to attract new business.

Makovsky sits 25th on the O’Dwyer’s ranking of independent firms, with 50 staffers and about $11 million in billings. They are frequently mentioned in our weekly Spin the Agencies of Record post (Rocket Racing!) about account wins, and have racked up 30 new pieces of business so far (project and retainer) this year. And, they picked up a Stevie Award last month as PR Agency of the Year.

I asked VP Steve Seeman how many people have been laid off at the firm, “absolutely none”. He credits their commitment to developing the talent they have, and their cool new office as two factors in keeping people around.

The firm chooses a few clients each month to analyze thoroughly, to spot softness before a problem occurs.

The nine people promoted:

Kate Coyne, Michael Goodwin and David Rosen, all promoted to Group Vice President

Joshua Baldwin, promoted to Account Supervisor

Kristin D’Ambrosio, Liz Pierce, Travis Ferber and Olga Oksman, all promoted to Account Executive

Janet Yoo, promoted to Assistant Account Executive