Former Baltimore Sun reporter and columnist, Bill Atkinson, has launched a public relations and strategic communications firm called Atkinson Strategic Communications.

The firm specializes in working with corporations, CEOs, senior executives and their teams in three areas: public relations, crisis communications and grassroots strategies.

“Our strategies help protect and build reputations and change opinions,” said Atkinson, who has been in public relations for 15 years. “We help our clients form the words and ideas to tell their stories in good times and when they are under pressure.”

Atkinson Strategic Communications has deep experience in banking and finance, environment, healthcare, medical devices, real estate and consumer goods, namely non-alcoholic beverages.

“Many of our clients relish the spotlight,” Atkinson said. “They want to see themselves in print or on television or on radio. We help bring their stories to life and make sure they are newsworthy.”

The firm also specializes in developing grassroots and corporate social responsibility programs for its clients and helps businesses form strategic community partnerships that have a lasting impact. It also develops strategies for organizations facing challenges ranging from bankruptcy, environmental contamination, legal disputes and CEO missteps.

“We understand how those stories will be treated on television, radio, in print and social media and we develop strategic plans that help our clients meet those challenges,” Atkinson said.

The firm also offers media training, content creation ranging from drafting website content to writing commentaries and Op-Eds to social media posting and monitoring.

Atkinson is joined by Emily Atkinson, who is a director at the firm, and Will Atkinson, who is an account executive. Emily and Will Atkinson previously worked at 212 Communications, a Baltimore-based public relations firm, which Atkinson joined in June 2015.

Prior to 212, Atkinson was a senior vice president at global public relations agency Weber Shandwick where he worked with clients that included Constellation Energy, Honeywell, General Motors, Bank of America, Promontory Financial Group, Raymond James and 1st Mariner Bank.

Prior to becoming a public relations practitioner in 2005, Atkinson was a business columnist and financial reporter at the Baltimore Sun where he wrote a twice-weekly column that tracked the personal dimensions of top executives of Maryland corporations. He was also the newspaper’s economics correspondent and covered the banking industry, stock market, mutual fund companies, brokerage houses, investment banks and white-collar crime. A series of stories on Allfirst Bank was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism.

Atkinson was an editor at American Banker newspaper in Washington, D.C., and a reporter covering federal regulators and regional and community banks. He also worked as a reporter for the Washington Business Journal and for American City Business Journals newspapers in San Jose, Calif., Columbus, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wis.

Atkinson is on the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Central Maryland and Banner Neighborhoods, one of the oldest and most respected community nonprofits serving the residents of East Baltimore.

About Atkinson Strategic Communications

Atkinson Strategic Communications specializes in working with corporations, CEOs, senior executives and their teams in three areas: public relations, crisis communications and grassroots strategies. The firm has deep experience in banking and finance, environmental, healthcare, real estate and consumer goods, namely non-alcoholic beverages.