HENNES COMMUNICATIONS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Communications Strategist
• Fellow PRSA

Beth Hallisy is a communications strategist with 30 years' experience in crisis and change communications, issues management, executive positioning, internal communications, media relations, event management and digital/social media strategy. She has counseled clients through labor strikes, M&A activity, downsizings, restructurings, security (data) breaches, corporate misconduct, product recalls, accidents, explosions, enterprise system/process changes, and other high-stakes

Job Titles:

• CEO
• Member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association 's Board of Directors and Executive
• Member of the Executive Committee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association

has grown Hennes Communications into one of the few firms in North America focused exclusively on crisis management, crisis communications and litigation communications consulting. Following years of political campaign work at the local, state and federal levels, Hennes spent three years managing a 1200-family nonprofit followed by three years in the automotive industry providing government and public relations counsel. He opened his own communications firm in 1989. Today, Hennes Communications counts among its current and former clients the American Public Power Association, Avery Dennison, ThyssenKrupp, Evonik, Interlake Steamship Company, Kent State University, Ohio University, Lubrizol, NASA, Northeast Ohio Medical University and The Riverside Company, as well as scores of other public and private companies, law firms, schools (public/private/parochial/independent), nursing homes and other senior adult communities, hospitals, universities, larger nonprofits and government agencies. The firm's recent assignments have spanned the United States and include work in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Japan and South America. Recently, the firm won two Silver Anvils, the public relations profession's most prestigious award, from the Public Relations Society of America, as part of the communications team, led by one of its clients, Destination Cleveland, in recognition of the nonpartisan work done by the firm to support the non-partisan Cleveland Host Committee for the 2016 Republican National Convention. As a nationally-known crisis communication specialist and media trainer, Hennes is an in-demand speaker on the many facets of crisis communications and crisis management, speaking frequently to bar and trade associations, elected officials, police, fire, education and health officials. He is especially noted for his insights on handling extreme situations involving threats to life and limb, and often is invited to speak at events sponsored by emergency management agencies. For the last 19 years, he has published Crisis Management To day, a twice-monthly newsletter with more than 8,500 subscribers. Hennes is a longtime member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association's board of directors and executive committee, making him one of just a few non-attorneys to sit on the board of a major metropolitan bar association. He is recipient of the bar association's President's Award in 2008 and 2018 and on the faculty of the Ohio State Bar Association's Leadership Academy. He was a four-time keynoter for the American Bar Association's Bar Leadership Institute in Chicago, on the faculty of the Winding River Managing Partner Bootcamp and he annually teaches more than 40 continuing legal education seminars to law firms and state and local bar associations across the country. He is a recipient of the President's Special Award for Extraordinary Service from the Cuyahoga County Bar Association and two Vega awards from the American Red Cross. In 2011, he received the Communicator of the Year award from the International Association of Business Communicators, Cleveland; and in 2013, he received a Gold "Rocks" award and "Best of Show" award from the Public Relations Society of America, Greater Cleveland Chapter, for his crisis communications work related to a ferry boat crash in New York City's Financial District. In addition, he was named one of the "50 Game-Changers of PR for 2017" by industry publication PRNews. In 2019, 2020 and 2021 he was named to the Lawdragon 100 Leading Consultants and Strategists, the definitive guide to the financiers, recruiters, marketing and communication gurus on whom the legal profession relies. "These are 100 of the most trusted advisors to the legal profession," said Lawdragon. Recently, he was named by the National Law Review (founded in 1888) as one of 2020's "Go-To Thought Leaders" for columns he has contributed to the publication's website, one of the most widely read business law websites in the U.S. And in 2021, he was named to the Cleveland 500 list of the Most Powerful Individuals by Cleveland Magazine's Community Leader publication. Hennes is past chairman of the Greater Cleveland Partnership's public affairs committee and past chairman of The Cleveland Jewish News. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, an instructor in the university's Ohio Certified Public Manager Program and president of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2008. In 2010, he was inducted into the Plain Local Schools (Canton, Ohio) Hall of Fame. A member of The 50 Club of Cleveland, comprised of the city's top CEOs, Hennes has a degree in political science from York University in Toronto, Canada and he is certified in effective communications by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is also of counsel to Levick Strategic Communications in Washington, DC. Bruce Hennes Named to Lawdragon Global 100 Leaders in Legal Strategy and Consulting and Lawdragon Hall of Fame Bruce Hennes, Chief Executive Officer of Hennes Communications, has been named to the 2022 Lawdragon Global 100 Leaders in Legal Strategy and Consulting, the definitive guide to the experts in management, marketing, communication and recruiting most valued by law firm leaders. Hennes Communications, founded in 1989 and located in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the few firms in North America focused exclusively on crisis management and crisis communications. This is the fourth year in a row that Hennes has been named to this prestigious list. The entire Lawdragon 100 list can be seen here. Hennes was also named to the 2022 Lawdragon Hall of Fame. According to Lawdragon, these are "the nation's greatest corporate litigators, plaintiff powerhouses, innovators who established new areas of law practice and individuals whose dedication to a sometimes precarious legal system are unsurpassed." "It's a real career capstone to be named to the Lawdragon 100 and Lawdragon Hall of Fame," said Hennes. "For more than 30 years, I've had the pleasure and privilege of teaching and counseling lawyers, C-suiters and government officials on the subjects of strategic communications, crisis management, crisis communications, litigation communications and issue management. As we often tell clients: You have a situation. We have a solution." Bruce Hennes is CEO of Hennes Communications, one of the few firms in North America focused exclusively on crisis communications and crisis management. Hennes Communications serves corporations, government agencies, education and healthcare institutions, professional service firms and nonprofits that are "on trial" in the Court of Public Opinion. Bruce has nearly 40 years' experience in communications, with a past and present client list that includes Avery Dennison, Lubrizol, the 2016 Cleveland Host Committee for the Republican National Convention, NASA, ThyssenKrupp, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Interlake Steamship, United Way of Cleveland, Kent State University and MetroHealth Hospital System, as well as law firms across the U.S. An adjunct professor at Cleveland State University, Bruce is a member of the executive committee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association where he also chairs the bar association's governance committee and he's chairman of the Leadership Cleveland Selection Committee. "If you say the right thing in the wrong way, a crisis can be created. A crisis of communications... a crisis of confidence. When they (Hennes Communications) do their job best, there is no crisis."

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• As Chief Executive Officer

As chief executive officer, Bruce M. Hennes has grown Hennes Communications into one of the few firms in North America focused exclusively on crisis management, crisis communications and litigation communications consulting. Bruce M. Hennes is the Chief Executive Officer of Hennes Communications, a crisis management and crisis communications and litigation communications consulting firm based in Cleveland.

Job Titles:

• CEO of Emergency Preparedness Group

As CEO of Emergency Preparedness Group, Clay Pacheco is of counsel to Hennes Communications, partnering with the firm to offer state-of-the-art crisis management training exercises and related consultations. Mr. Pacheco has more than 20 years of experience in emergency preparedness planning, training, and exercise programs. He has extensive experience in developing customized training and complex

Job Titles:

• Executive Director Northeast Ohio Sourcing Office Read

Job Titles:

• Forensic Psychiatry & Threat Assessment Expert
• Psychiatrist With the Ontario Provincial Police

Dr. Peter Collins has been the forensic psychiatrist with the Ontario Provincial Police, since 1995. From 1990 to 1995 he was a member of the first profiling unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Violent Crime Analysis Section) and was involved in the development of the Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (ViCLAS). Since 1992 he […]

Job Titles:

• Dean, Levin College of Urban Affairs Cleveland State University Read More Testimonials

George Snider brings to clients over 40 years' experience in corporate America, having held senior positions in issues management, public affairs and marketing. A graduate of Yale University in its honors political science program, George served as an officer in the U.S. Army for two years and afterward in the Reserve. He began his business career […]

Job Titles:

• Vice President
• Assistant News Director at WKYC

Howard Fencl serves as vice president for Hennes Communications. Fencl brings more than 30 years of experience in public relations and in television news production and management. He is responsible for the development, management and implementation of communication strategies for clients of the firm, focusing on crisis communications, reputation management, media strategy, media training, and cross-platform media monitoring in on-air, on-line, social and mobile media. Fencl has extensive experience coaching executives in every business sector to effectively tell their stories to the media in crisis situations. From his front-line experience working in television news, he knows how to anticipate tough questions from the media, which is essential to developing the powerful responses clients need to get in front of crisis issues and emerge with their reputations intact. Prior to joining Hennes Communications, Fencl served as assistant news director at WKYC-TV. He was vice president at Edward Howard & Co. (now Fahlgren Mortine) and served a diverse client base including Hoover, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Rubbermaid, Ben Venue Laboratories, Lifebanc and the Greater Cleveland Growth Association (now the Greater Cleveland Partnership). He has written speeches for numerous executives, including former Congressman Dennis Eckart and Pro Football Hall of Famer Gayle Sayers. In the 1990s, he was president and general manager of Multiverse, one of the pioneer Internet service providers in Northeast Ohio. Fencl was pivotal in creating and launching the city of Cleveland's first presence on the web in late 1994 in his capacity as director of communications for The New Cleveland Campaign. And, he was a television news producer and executive producer for a dozen years, working at WKYC-TV and WEWS-TV in Cleveland and WBNS-TV in Columbus. As assistant news director at WKYC, Howard was responsible for crafting the news department's pioneering cross-platform strategic content delivery plan, successfully launching one of the first social media sites for a Gannett-owned television station in 2007. The plan was subsequently adapted by other Gannett television stations across the country. Fencl graduated as valedictorian from Denison University, and received his M.A. at Hiram College. He studied the Russian language as part of his undergraduate work at the University of Moscow's Pushkin Russian Language Institute. Fencl is a trustee on the board of the Cleveland Association of Phi Beta Kappa, where he served as president for three years. He is a past board member of the Press Club of Cleveland and the Near West Theatre. He is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America.

Job Titles:

• Travis Brownley Head of School

Job Titles:

• Senior Vice President

Nora Jacobs is senior vice president at Hennes Communications, as well as an experienced crisis communications counselor with three decades of agency and corporate experience. Over the years, she has counseled top executives at companies, associations, nonprofits and professional service firms throughout the country on reputational issues and problems ranging from accidents, environmental concerns, product failures, criminal matters and activist attacks to reorganizations, management transitions and downsizings. She has a strong portfolio of client work in consumer and industrial products, healthcare, biotechnology, education and economic development. Previously, Jacobs served as executive vice president of Ohio-based Edward Howard (now Fahlgren Mortine). There, she was a member of its board of directors and executive committee, with management responsibility for its largest office, as well as staffing and training firm-wide. During her tenure with the firm, she managed some of Edward Howard's largest accounts and led the firm's healthcare practice. She began her career at BFGoodrich Chemical Group, a division of the Fortune 500 BFGoodrich Company, where she oversaw the group's advertising, public relations, community relations and issues management programs. Jacobs holds a bachelor's degree from Kent State University and a master's degree from John Carroll University. She is a member of the Kent State University Foundation Board, a director and past-president of the Kent State National Alumni Association, president of the Kent State Honors College Advisory Board, a director on the board of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association, an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America and a member of PRSA's Counselors Academy. A three-time Silver Anvil winner, the highest award given by the public relations profession, Jacobs has received numerous other communications awards, including a Gold World Award from the International Public Relations Association. She has received the Distinguished Honors Alumni Award from Kent State's Honors College, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Kent's College of Arts and Sciences. In 2009, she was presented with the Davis Young Award for Exceptional Mentors by the Cleveland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America in recognition of the work she has done to help young professionals and others advance in the field. Nora Jacobs serves as senior vice president of Hennes Communications. She is an experienced crisis communications counselor with three decades of agency and corporate experience. Over the years, she has counseled top executives at companies, associations, nonprofits and professional service firms throughout the country on reputational issues and problems ranging from accidents, environmental concerns, product failures, criminal matters and activist attacks to reorganizations, management transitions and downsizings. She has a strong portfolio of client work in consumer and industrial products, healthcare, biotechnology, education and economic development.

Job Titles:

• Chairman of the Board MetroHealth System Read

Job Titles:

• Social Media and Web PR

As the president of Radar Public Relations & Consulting LLC, a firm specializing in the strategic use of social media, Scott Juba understands the unique opportunities and challenges that Internet platforms pose to organizations during a crisis.

Job Titles:

• Media Training & Public Affairs

A journalist since 1972, Scott currently freelances for several national television firms, including NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, The Today Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC and many others. He is a familiar face to Northeast Ohioans after spending 18 years on the air at WKYC TV-3. His first job was reporter for The Detroit News.

Job Titles:

• Vice President

Stephanie York serves as vice president at Hennes Communications. She brings 30 years of legal, governmental, hospital, political, digital media and public relations experience to the agency. York heads up the firm's satellite office in Akron, Ohio. York specializes in crisis communications, crisis management, litigation communications, issues management, media relations and digital media. She can quickly evaluate developing issues and produce effective strategic messages to aid clients coping with reputation management concerns, escalating events and breaking crises. Prior to joining Hennes Communications, York served as both assistant director of law and director of communications for the City of Akron, its mayor and cabinet. As the media's front-line contact for all city departments and employees, York skillfully controlled communications for civil and criminal legal matters, state and federal investigations, a vast city taxpayer website breach and attempted breaches, city council disputes, community perceptions, mayoral reputation challenges and sudden changes in leadership and administrations. As an attorney, York handled hundreds of complex cases, advised all city departments on sensitive and confidential legal and policy matters and litigated cases in state and federal courts. She is admitted to practice in all Ohio courts, including the Northern District of Ohio, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Ohio Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court. York has extensive political experience, having served as a campaign adviser, manager and social media expert in numerous high profile local campaigns, including serving as a key aide in the successful defense against the attempted recall of one of the country's longest-serving and best-known mayors. York also served as the director of communications and public relations for Cleveland Clinic Akron General, during Cleveland Clinic's acquisition of the Akron General Health System. During this pivotal time of transition and change, York played a critical role as the communication and information resource for the community, Akron General's employees and the media. Numerous specific, targeted communications helped lead to widespread acceptance of the merger, overcoming initial concerns expressed by local residents, as well as government and business leaders. In her spare time, York volunteers in many capacities. She is the past-president of the Downtown Akron Kiwanis Club and the Akron Kiwanis Foundation, and chair of the Jewish Women's Endowment Board and United Way of Summit County's Strategic Planning Committee. York serves as vice president of the Jewish Community Board of Akron, and is a board member of the Leadership Akron Alumni Association and United Way of Summit County. She is also a member of the Akron Bar Association. York graduated summa cum laude from Ohio University in 1991 with a bachelor's in communications. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Akron, School of Law in 1994.

Job Titles:

• Managing Partner
• Expert

Thom Fladung serves as managing partner for Hennes Communications. He brings more than 33 years of daily newspaper and digital media experience to the agency, having served as a top editor at some of the nation's largest newspapers such as the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Detroit Free Press. Over the past decade, Fladung has also played a lead role in helping newsrooms enter the digital age, including web, social media and handheld digital devices. Fladung is expert at crafting effective, strategic messages on hard deadlines. He is also experienced at quickly evaluating, assembling and disseminating information - crisis management skills that are critically important for clients coping with reputation management issues and breaking crises. He is intimately familiar with the relentless content requirements of the 24/7 news cycle, and understands the necessity and nuances of communicating on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. He recognizes the crucial role social media plays as a first alert for many consumers of information. Fladung has overseen newsrooms of more than 300 journalists and has directed dozens of award-winning investigations, breaking-news stories, human interest stories and features. Highlights include helping direct six journalists reporting from the Iraq war after the invasion in 2003 for the Detroit Free Press; leading coverage during the Northeast blackout of 2003 in Detroit, and getting the newspaper out with no power; and overseeing coverage of the Minneapolis bridge collapse of 2007 while serving as editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In his role as a lead editor, Fladung was responsible for multimillion-dollar newsroom budgets along with the management of the newsrooms, including overseeing hiring, career development, performance evaluations, layoffs, union negotiations and more. He also has been responsible for managing the reputation of the many news organizations he has led, frequently serving as their ambassador for public speaking engagements, and serving as one of the first points of contact for customers. Most recently, Fladung served as managing editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the newsroom. Prior to that, he was editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, managing editor of the Detroit Free Press and managing editor of the Akron Beacon Journal. He has also held a variety of editing and reporting positions at those and other newspapers and has reported on business, politics, state government, crime and courts and sports. A native of Canton, Ohio, Fladung is a graduate of the University of Dayton. He is on the boards for The Press Club of Cleveland and Truly Reaching You (TRY), a reentry service for men leaving prison. He has served on a number of other boards, including the Ohio Newspaper Association; Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Columbia, S.C.; Christ Child House in Detroit; and the Minnesota News Council. In 2017, Fladung received the Communicator of the Year award from the International Association of Business Communicators.

Job Titles:

• Vice President, Business Attraction Team NEO Read

Job Titles:

• Travis Brownley Head of School