Ad agency extends reach to Sarasota

SARASOTA — A West Palm Beach-based advertising and public relations firm, with national clients from railroads to the Ritz-Carlton, has opened an office in Sarasota.

The firm, O'Donnell Agency, has a third office on Madison Avenue in New York City, according to a release. The agency offers advertising, design, public relations and digital media services, the release adds.

O'Donnell Agency Vice President Julie Fanning, a shareholder who has been with the company for 10 years, will run the Sarasota office. The expansion, the company says, was prompted by fast-growing opportunities in the Sarasota/Tampa market.

“We've represented banks, hotels, construction companies and law firms on the Gulf Coast for many years, serviced from our West Palm Beach office,” says Carey O'Donnell, the company's president and creative director, in a release. “We have some very strong business relationships in the Sarasota and Tampa Bay area, and they've been encouraging us to enter this market for the past three years, keeping us apprised of new opportunities.”

The agency was founded in 1995. Clients include the high-speed rail line All Aboard Florida; Kansas City-based engineering firm HNTB; Boston-based real estate development firm Freehold Capital Management; and the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority. It's also done work for the Ritz-Carlton and Dunkin' Donuts, among other brands.