Contact: Scott Warner
703-744-7824
swarner@qorvis.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

QORVIS COMMUNICATIONS MARKS THIRD YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Washington, DC- August 20, 2003 – Qorvis Communications LLC, a privately held integrated communications firm, today marked the third year anniversary of its founding  with the announcement that it added 11 new clients in the second quarter of 2003 and five new clients thus far in the third quarter.  The company also reported that its research arm, WRS, worked with 62 clients in the second quarter. 

Formed in August 2000, Qorvis sought to become the preeminent communications firm based in the Greater Washington, DC area.  Starting with slightly more than a dozen employees and handful of clients at its inception, Qorvis now employs a total of 50, the vast majority of whom are public relations professionals, and the firm works with more than 30 clients. 

"Qorvis was founded three years ago with the idea that we could be very successful if we managed our firm with a different business model," said Michael Petruzzello, managing partner.  "We sought to be comprised primarily of very senior professionals who build intimate relationships with their clients and deliver outstanding service.  Clearly, the model is working for us." 

The new clients reach across a broad spectrum of businesses, associations and organizations and include additional assignments and billings for some existing clients.   Among the new clients are such firms as America Online, Blueprint Technologies, North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, Direct Design, Northern Virginia Community College, the Food Marketing Institute, the Investor Protection Coalition and Shaheen Business & Investment Group. 

"Our performance would be considered to be strong if we achieved it during a healthy market for public relations services, but we are especially proud that we achieved this success during a very difficult market when many of our competitors have actually become smaller," said Doug Poretz, who was a co-founder of the firm along with Petruzzello.  "Furthermore, another indication of our success is that during the same quarter, we lost only two clients.  One of those was successfully acquired by a larger public company, which was one of our tasks, and the other was a client for which a project was completed.  We remain proud of our quality of service."

About Qorvis
Qorvis Communications is widely regarded as the largest independently owned public relations firm based in the Greater Washington, DC area.  Formed in August 2000, Qorvis has offices in Washington, DC and McLean, Virginia, and provides its clients with expertise in the areas of investor and financial relations, public affairs, grass roots campaigns, public and media relations, marketing communications and research and opinion surveys.  The Washington, DC based law firm of Patton Boggs is an investor in and strategic partner to Qorvis.