Sitrick And Company, whose clients include Fortune 100 companies and high-profile individuals such as Patricia Dunn, Roy Disney, Ron Burkle, and Thomas H. Lee, has opened an office in San Francisco.
The office is headed by Lance Ignon, a former business and finance journalist who first joined Sitrick more than a dozen years ago, subsequently left to return to journalism and then held a number of senior corporate communications positions at publicly held companies before rejoining the Sitrick firm.
"Sitrick has long served clients in the Bay Area, but I wanted to ensure that I had the right person to oversee our operations there before opening an office," said Michael S. Sitrick, the firm's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "I have known Lance as a partner at my firm, as a client and a friend, so I was thrilled when he told me he wanted to "˜come home' to open a Bay Area office."
"I have the utmost confidence in Lance's abilities. As a former business journalist, he understands the way the news media work as well as Wall Street. As a corporate executive, he has successfully managed sensitive communications issues and gained a sophisticated understanding -- from the inside out -- of complex business issues. I look forward to working with him to provide strategic communications counsel to Bay Area businesses, organizations and individuals."
Mr. Ignon served most recently as Vice President, Corporate Affairs, at VaxGen, Inc., a South San Francisco-based biotechnology company. At VaxGen, Mr. Ignon oversaw corporate, financial and government communications and was VaxGen's liaison to outside litigation counsel. He also led the company's financing activities and was the chief ethics officer. Prior to joining VaxGen, he served as Director, Corporate Communications, for Tenet Healthcare Corp., a nationwide operator of acute-care hospitals. Both companies were Sitrick clients. Prior to holding these corporate positions and serving as the founding editor of an award-winning business newspaper, Mr. Ignon was Vice President and co-head of Investor Relations at Sitrick.
In addition to his corporate experience, Mr. Ignon served as a foreign correspondent for Bloomberg, a finance editor and reporter for Investor's Business Daily, a business reporter for the Los Angeles Times in its New York City Bureau and wrote for The Village Voice.
"Sitrick is the nation's premiere public relations firm for addressing sensitive and complex issues. I know this both from the inside as a former partner at Sitrick and from the outside as a client. That is one of the reasons I am so pleased to be returning to open the San Francisco office," Mr. Ignon said. "As home to some of the most vibrant business communities in the nation, the Bay Area offers tremendous opportunities for us, and I look forward to working closely with Mike and other members of the firm to grow the business here."
The firm is currently recruiting associate-level employees with journalism backgrounds for its San Francisco office. Candidates are encouraged to send their résumés to lance_ignon@sitrick.com. Please, no phone calls.
Sitrick And Company is one of the nation's leading public relations firms. While best known for its communications work in sensitive situations, Sitrick has extensive and successful practices in the more traditional areas of corporate, financial, and transactional communications. Clients include public and private companies as well as government agencies and high-profile individuals.
