Kolrud Hannum Rebrands as Beehive PR
Category: News Releases - November 30, 2006
St. Paul, Minn. - St. Paul-based public relations firm Kolrud Hannum has changed its name to Beehive PR and opened new offices in historic Bandana Square. Beehive PR can be found on the Web at beehivepr.biz.
The company was founded in 1998 by CEO and president Lisa Kolrud Hannum. It relocated to Bandana Square in May with five employees. Beehive will end the year with 10 employees and fee billings of more than $1 million, a 50 percent increase over 2005. The firm is projecting another year of 50 percent growth in 2007, according to Hannum.
The Beehive brand name “isn’t about creating buzz,” Hannum said. “It’s about making our clients’ brands stick in the hearts and minds of their customers.
“Our namesake and workstyle have a lot in common,” Hannum added. “Beehives are among the most evolved and efficient workplaces on the planet. The hive only thrives when the bees work well together. And bees are master communicators.”
Beehive specializes in helping brands discover and tell their stories. “We’re a PR partner who knows how to connect headlines to the bottom line,” Hannum said. “Organizations have to be smart and be heard. A brand’s growth and success depends on leading and participating in conversations with key stakeholders — whether it’s at the speed of the Web or the grape vine.”
Beehive delivers a full range of public relations and marketing services and currently has about a dozen clients on its roster. They range from venerable Twin Cities-based brands like Deluxe Corporation, United Properties, Peters Billiards and Bachman’s to up-and-comers, including retail meal prep franchisor Let’s Dish! and Ergodyne, a developer and marketer of performance work gear.
“The company’s founding principles have remained constant since day one — to create value for great brands, to work with great people and to have a fulfilling career and life — for real,” Hannum said.
“We’ve recruited our team from big agencies and big brand names with the promise of exciting and rewarding work in an environment that wholeheartedly supports their personal lives,” Hannum said.
All Beehive employees have the option to work flexible schedules from any location. Despite its small size, the company complies with the Family and Medical Leave Act and offers paid maternity and paternity leave. Beehive also pays for employee memberships to a baby, house and pet sitting service, and arranges for dry cleaning and car detailing services to be delivered at the office.
Beehive’s new 5,200 square-foot headquarters gave the company room to introduce its BE FIT wellness program, which includes on-site yogalates classes, an urban walking club, health club membership discounts and monthly wellness seminars and workshops. The new offices also include a “Sanctuary,” inspired by working mothers, a workstation designed to keep visiting children entertained and an employee-donated library of novels and children’s books.