Company: MWW Group, East Rutherford, NJ
Company Description: MWW Group is a full-service public relations & communications firm with international reach and local expertise, committed to the philosophy of “Aim High. Deliver". We are one of the top 10 PR agencies in the nation with office in East Rutherford, N.J., New York City; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Dallas; Detroit; Seattle; London; and Trenton, N.J.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications Executive of the Year

Nomination Title: Michael W. Kempner, CEO of MWW Group

Tell the story about what this nominee achieved (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Michael Kempner, president and CEO of MWW Group, has always been an innovator
and public relations pioneer. He began MWW in 1986 and has since led the firm
to become one of the fastest growing in the industry.   His efforts for his
company are only exceeded by the efforts to the communities in which he
operates, and the world at large.  MWW Group’s commitment to corporate social
responsibility and corporate citizenship comes straight from Kempner’s heart
and has spread throughout his organization.

Since its founding, Kempner has lead the firm to year-over-year consecutive
growth and been dedicated to continuing this effort by delivering outstanding
results for MWW Group’s clients in 2008. As a result of Kempner’s drive and
pioneering PR practices, MWW Group experienced 7% organic growth and 4% new
business growth in 2008, arguably the most difficult year businesses have seen
in a long while.    New 2008 clients included Target, Adecco, Harrah’s, Gold’s
Gym, JetBlue Airways, The Hershey Company, Johnson & Johnson, and American
Water Works.   In the case of Target, Adecco, JetBlue and The Hershey Company,
MWW Group rose to the top amongst some of the biggest multinational PR
consultancies in the world.

Kempner’s commitment to the community is reflected in the work MWW Group and
its employees do for organizations each year.  In 2008, Kempner worked with
colleagues to focus on the company’s commitment to hunger, children and the
environment resulting in working with America’s Harvest and Community Food
Banks; pro-bono initiatives for Keep A Child Alive (KCA), a group dedicated to
providing food and medicine to AIDS orphans in Africa; the formalization
of “MWW Group Green” incorporating environmental responsibility into every
aspect of our business and a commitment to gain ISO 14001 certification (only
the second PR firm in the nation to do so).  Kempner also issued the company’s
first Corporate Citizenship Report in 2008.   In addition to his visionary work
at MWW Group, Mr. Kempner is a board member of Center for Food Action and North
Jersey Community Bank and was on the chair committee of the 2008 Black Ball to
benefit KCA.

Kempner is a leader in the digital media arena. DialogueMedia, MWW Group’s
award winning, digital and emerging media practice is recognized for its
industry leading campaigns and strategic expertise in digital and emerging
media. Kempner also authors thought-leader content via a personal blog, Twitter
and Facebook.

Kempner has also inspired employees by personally mentoring employees and
promoting growth from within, MWW's staff retention rate is 85%. Many members
of our senior staff have been with the company for over ten years partly
because of the fostering of creativity and talent guided by Kempner.
 
Kempner’s vision and commitment has resulted in numerous industry awards.  In
2008, MWW Group was named PR Agency of the Year (American Business Awards),
Midsize PR Firm of the Year (PR News) and Kempner was named the PR Professional
of the Year (PRWeek). In addition, our Financial Relations Board division was
awarded a Silver Anvil, public relations’ highest honor.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://www.mwwstraighttalk.com
http://twitter.com/mkempner
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael_Kempner/510275984
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/961/669
http://www.mww.com/pressroom/feed/
http://video.mww.com/MWW%20Group/JetBlue%20Hires%20MWW%20for%20Crisis%20Communications.pdf
ftp://video.mww.com/MWW%20Group/MWW%20to%20Provide%20Incident%20and%20Issues%20Support%20to%20JetBlue.pdf  
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE50T16S20090130?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
http://video.mww.com/MWW%20Group/MWW%20Provides%20PR%20MUSCLE%20FOR%20GOLD.pdf
http://video.mww.com/MWW%20Group/Boscov's%20Taps%20MWW%20to%20Handle%20Bankruptcy%20Comms.pdf  
http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=32607D3B2F054522A24D9EE353E5E2BA&AudID=F242408EE36A4B18AABCEB1289960A07
http://video.mww.com/MWW%20Group/Keep%20A%20Child%20Alive%20Enlists%20MWW%20Group.pdf
http://www.prweekus.com/Vitals-tries-different-angles-to-launch-its-new-Web-site/article/118316/
http://www.prweekus.com/Everlast-taps-MWW-to-help-mark-centennial-anniversary/article/127690/
http://mww.com/awards.php
http://twitter.com/mwwgroup
http://twitter.com/DialogueMedia
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MWW-Group/29789338045
http://www.linkedin.com/companies/mww-group

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about this nominee:

Michael W. Kempner is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of MWW
Group, a national, full-service public relations and communications firm with
international reach and local expertise. In addition to running the agency as a
whole, plays an active role in the management of many individual accounts.
Since its founding in 1986, Mr. Kempner has led the firm to year-over-year
growth and has also pioneered the firm’s commitment to the community. Mr.
Kempner was recently named the PR Professional of the Year by PRWeek, authors a
personal blog, “Straight Talk” and a byline with Chief Executive.