From left: Ben Noble, Matt DeCample, Cyrene Quiamco, Jillian Hicks, Lauren Waldrip and Grant Tennille.
A former executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission has joined Aarch Communications of Little Rock, a new partnership offering strategic communications services.
Grant Tennille, who is also president of Bering Strategic Advisors, has partnered with Matt DeCample, who was spokesman and communications director for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, and Ben Noble, who is president of Noble Strategies, a public affairs firm.
The three announced the new company early Wednesday. Tennille and Noble are “strategic partners” in the new firm. DeCample is its president.
“Communications strategies must adapt to succeed in today’s hyper-connected environment,” DeCample said. “Internal communications, external communications, public relations, investor relations, community affairs, governmental affairs and marketing are converging like never before. We’ve built a team that can deliver results and stability across the full spectrum of clients’ communications needs.”
The partners said Aarch Communications will provide media relations and strategic communications services. But the company will also work in new media and Web design, crisis response, government policy analysis, polling and soft skills training.
“Ben, Matt and I recognize that new technologies and communications channels are transforming the fundamentals of public affairs,” Tennille said. “Matt and his team at the governor’s office implemented a holistic communications strategy that produced unprecedented success. Ben knows how to assess a client’s needs and deliver the services required to win on their issue. I understand how government, economics and communications connect.
“Aarch Communications blends those core strengths into one toolbox that will produce value and results for our clients,” he said.
Joining the three partners are Lauren Waldrip, director of client services; Jillian Hicks, director of public affairs; and Cyrene Quiamco, director of social media.
Waldrip is a former special initiatives coordinator for the University of Arkansas Razorback Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising arm of the UA athletic program. Hicks has worked for CJRW of Little Rock, the state’s largest advertising, marketing and public relations firm, and most recently was a senior health-policy adviser for the Arkansas Department of Health.
Quiamco, a Web and graphic designer who most recently worked for Verizon, has received national attention for her social media work, particularly on Snapchat, where she posts artwork and other snaps she says receives between 40,000 to 50,000 views. She’s been featured in Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times and Tech Insider.
DeCample spent more than six years as a reporter for Little Rock ABC affiliate KATV-TV, Channel 7, before joining the Beebe administration, where he was spokesman and communications director for 12 years.
Noble’s firm, Noble Strategies, represents organizations in “Washington D.C., in state capitols and internationally,” Noble said. “Clients constantly approach us with perceived political problems that are actually communications challenges outside the halls of government. Aarch Communications will provide these clients with the full range of services they need.”
Tennille, a former Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter and deputy chief of staff to Beebe, became executive director AEDC in March 2012 following the death of its previous director, Maria Haley.
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