Solomon McCown, a Boston-based national public relations firm, announced the opening of its new office in New York City. Solomon McCown has a track record of working with clients in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., so the new office is a natural progression that will enable the firm to be closer to existing and prospective clients, as well as established real estate, financial services and healthcare companies, key growth areas for the agency. The firm has grown in the last two years, and has already hired 6 new employees in 2013. The new office will be led by Jonathan Pappas, a seasoned agency veteran who brings a compelling mix of agency, corporate, and real estate experience to New York City. (Release)

Ketchum has announced four new hires, three in Atlanta and one in New York: 

• Phil Swire joins as senior vice president, digital strategy & technology, New York. Phil Swire leads Ketchum’s development function in the U.S. and oversees technology strategy across the Ketchum network. A digital strategist, Swire joins Ketchum from PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was a leader in that firm’s digital strategy practice.
  
• Matt Browher is the new senior vice president, digital strategy, Atlanta. Browher has extensive experience in strategy development, team management and interactive marketing, having recently worked at Digitas and as the digital practice lead for FleishmanHillard in Atlanta.
• Amy Andrieux, the new vice president, multimedia content & strategy, New York, was formerly editorial director at MTV World. Andrieux oversees the Ketchum Digital video group, helps lead content strategy for the U.S., and helps to evolve Ketchum Digital’s multimedia capabilities. Andrieux brings a wealth of multimedia, video and content development experience to Ketchum from her experience developing and leading editorial strategy for MTV World online portals. 
• Kristen Massaro, Vice President, Digital Strategy, New York, supports a number of key accounts, including Michelin and Gillette, and lends support to other markets in the Ketchum network, with emphasis on the Southern U.S region. Massaro, who has deep expertise in social media engagement, was previously with with Emanate, a public relations sister agency to Ketchum, where she led the digital and social strategy specialty since 2011. (Release)

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Waste processing and recycling company Sun Bergeron has chosen Hill + Knowlton Strategies for corporate communications, media relations, research, community relations, and other marcomms work. H+K in Miami will lead the work with help from offices across the country.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has chosen Racepoint Group for global PR and social media work. Racepoint has also added six other health care clients to its roster including the UMass Memorial Medical Center and Jiff Inc, a health care social network.The agency has hired Nigel Smith, a health care PR pro with 20 years of experience, as SVP of the global health care practice to help with the new business. [via]

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