AMS Expands Public Relations Department

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH., February 18, 2008 – Alexander Marketing Services Inc. (AMS) has substantially strengthened its services in public relations with the addition of two former journalists who have extensive experience in dealing with business, trade and other media.

Matthew Gryczan, former managing editor of Crain’s Detroit Business and two other business publications, and Dan Schoonmaker, former reporter for The Grand Rapids Business Journal, have joined the staff of AMS to support the public relations needs for clients that require targeted approaches to business-to-business marketing and communications.

“We are very pleased to have seasoned journalists like Matt and Dan to round out our offerings as a full-service agency,” AMS President Bob Milroy said. “While we have always practiced public relations as part of our service mix, our growth and diverse client base creates the need to enhance our presence in this discipline, which has become an indispensable part of an effective business-to-business communications program.”

Founded in 1965, AMS (www.alexandermarketing.com) serves clients nationally from offices in Grand Rapids, Chicago, and Raleigh, N.C. The company recorded capitalized billings of more than $30 million in 2007 and has been ranked among the top 50 business-to-business agencies by BtoB Magazine each year since 2002.

Milroy said Gryczan and Schoonmaker have extensive hands-on experience in identifying PR opportunities for clients and the media that would likely cover those stories, developing effective tools to promote client messages and making personal contacts with media sources to place stories. In addition to public relations activities, Gryczan and Schoonmaker will be assigned to other activities at AMS, such as the creation of marketing and informational products, research, issues management, crisis communications, and community relations.

Gryczan, 54, has served as a business and general assignment reporter for The Grand Rapids Press and three other daily newspapers, as well as managing editor of three area business publications. In addition to his experience with print journalism, he worked 11 years as a product manager and manufacturing engineer at Autocam Corp., a Kentwood, Mich.-based manufacturer of precision-machined metal parts. He also served five years as a vice president of investor relations for a Midwest public relations firm in which he handled financial communications programs for several publicly traded companies. Gryczan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University, a bachelor’s degree in business from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, and a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering technology from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich.

Schoonmaker, 28, served as a business writer for four years at the Grand Rapids Business Journal, where he won a silver medal in 2007 at the national conference of the Association of Area Business Publications for his story regarding a “mystery development” that was proposed for the city of Grand Rapids. In the course of his work, Schoonmaker has covered a variety of business beats such as heavy industry, technology, real estate development, sustainable business, homeland security and office furniture manufacturing. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as a sergeant and veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom.

For more information, please write Jenna Kyser at jkyser@alexandermarketing.com or call the firm at (616) 957-2000. High resolution, digital photos of Gryczan and Schoonmaker are available.