Oliver Russell branches out into Portland. Again.

Coinciding with the addition of Business Development Director Morgan Rider, Oliver Russell recently announced their expansion into Portland, Oregon. Their Portland office shares space with B-Line Urban Delivery, a fellow B Corp, in the Redd.

In the press release about the expansion, Rider says, “I couldn’t be more excited to be expanding Oliver Russell’s reach beyond Idaho to Oregon, Washington and California,” said Rider. “My focus will be on cultivating new opportunities with businesses and nonprofits that share our vision for positive world change. Portland is home to many purpose-driven brands, and Oliver Russell’s expertise in branding and marketing helps organizations across the Northwest achieve their goals with a strong sense of values and purpose.”

Longtime readers may remember that this is not Oliver Russell’s first foray into the Portland market, as the agency previously had a presence there in the mid-2000s.

New hires at Oliver Russell

Oliver Russell recently announced that they’ve added a few new folks to their team: Rebecca Mulkey as a studio designer, Morgan Rider as business development director, and Heidy Caruso as an account manager.

Rebecca Mulkey recently relocated to Boise from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has experience creating visual identity for stationary, advertisements and marketing collateral. She honed her eye for design at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

Morgan Rider will spearhead Oliver Russell’s new business opportunities from Portland, Oregon, She was previously with Grady Britton, and serves as a board member on both The Climate Trust and The Wetlands Conservancy.

Heidy Caruso returned to the agency world after most recently serving as a client services manager at MarkMonitor. A graduate of University of Idaho, she spent several years with Drake Cooper, and KTVB prior to that.

Congratulations to all.

Meanwhile, at Oliver Russell

Our friends at Oliver Russell have seen their fair share of changes over the past few months, including new titles, new faces, and new job openings:

In February, Mike Stevens was promoted to Design Director, where he’ll be responsible for oversight over design initiatives within the agency, and management over Oliver Russell’s growing design team.

Also in February, Brian Millar was promoted from public relations intern to Studio Writer. Millar’s background is in journalism, and he also works as a freelance reporter for Boise Weekly.

These changes follow the addition of Rob Osler, who joined Oliver Russell in December as Managing Director. Osler previously held roles including director of brand strategy at Microsoft and senior vice president at Salt Branding.

On the job openings front, Oliver Russell has a couple positions they’re looking to fill:

PR Manager / Director

This individual will lead our PR practice, elevating the impact of organizations striving to do good for people and our planet.

Studio Designer

We’re looking to hire a purpose-oriented design all-star to complement and strengthen our team as we grow our roster of clients, which currently stretches from Silicon Valley to the Smithsonian.

Full details about those two positions and how to apply can be found via their respective links.

We’re also hearing word that a new account manager joined the Oliver Russell team in March. Stay tuned — more details on that down the road.

Stepping out

Full Swing Public Relations is about me stopping evangelizing about women-owned businesses and becoming the woman who owns the damn business.

Those were just a few of Caitlin Copple Masingill’s words as she announced her departure from Oliver Russell and the launch of Full Swing Public Relations.

Read more about Caitlin’s new venture: Taking My Full Swing

An abrupt reversal

In October we wrote about the news of Chad Rea joining Oliver Russell as its new creative director. Well, it appears there’s been an about-face on that front recently.

Chad posted an update on LinkedIn that he would not be moving to Boise, but rather will remain in Austin, Texas.

You can read his full post here: Tomorrow, I’m starting with a clean slate.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like the fit may not have been there, on either side. And as is the case with any shop, the fit and the culture is just as, if not more important, than the job function itself.