Content area
Full text
"I'm cautiously optimistic about the rest of the year," said Ken Lempit, president of the Austin Lawrence Group Inc. in Stamford, reflecting a growing optimism among public relations and advertising agencies about business prospects in the county.
The reason, agencies say, is that businesses will soon be unable to ignore the strength of the national economy's recovery and will begin spending on PR and advertising again to boost their bottom line.
"Right now our billing is up 40 percent over last year," said Brian Brady, president of KZS Brady Lee in Trumbull. "Last year was just a holding firm type of year," and while "the economy is bouncing back, clients are still not as quick to say 'yes' as they used to be."
"It's still difficult to get long-term commitments from our clients," who instead are choosing to look for professional help on a one-time project basis, said Lempit. "In fact, we're about to launch a strategic division for our company focusing on project work to fulfill...