Gorbachev biz launches PR firm to capital

By Steve Ginsberg
August 7, 1998

The PBN Company, the public relations agency that made its name promoting Mikhail Gorbachev, is shutting its Bay Area offices and moving its headquarters to Washington, D.C. by Jan.1.

The move reflects the San Francisco-based P.R. firm's growing international business in the former Soviet Union and the break up of the agency's partners.

Peter Necarsulmer and his wife, Susan Thurman will stay with the business, while Sam Sacco will start a practice in the East Bay. VPs Peter Bartelme and Tomi Van de Brooke will be independent consultants.

PBN's San Francisco, Contra Costa and Sacramento offices will close this fall. In the Bay Area, the agency employs about 20 people. Its clients include United Airlines, Boeing, Coca Cola Ukraine and Bechtel Group.

PBN's international business took off unexpectedly when it handled Soviet leader Gorbachev's first San Francisco visit for free. The work led to paying clients in Moscow and Ukraine where PBN now has offices. Necarsulmer spends much of his time in Russia, while Thurman runs the operation.

PBN ranked 12th on the Business Times' list of the largest public relations firms in the Bay Area, with local billing of nearly $ 3.9 million in 1997.