Two of Memphis’ preeminent communications firms have merged. Executives at Caissa Public Strategy and Wilson Public Relations announced the move Wednesday. 

The merger will bring together a wide range of services, from strategic communications and public relations to crisis communications and education-specific communications services all under one roof. The joint firm will be led by Beth Wilson, Adrian Bond, Paige Walkup and Brian Stephens.

Wilson, who will lead the public relations division, said she has worked with Caissa in the past and had talked off and on with them about combining forces. She said bringing the two teams together would be mutually beneficial and now was the right time. 

“We’re just really excited about this and about the timing and really enabling our combined team and these various divisions now to be able to serve our clients and continue to help them grow and also to grow our team and grow our client base,” she added. 

Bond, who leads the team working on communications for K-12 education clients, said that while they served clients all over the country, he and others at the firm “remain bullish on Memphis.”

“We believe that we are a resilient city. There’s a lot of great things that are happening beneath the surface,” he added. “We want to make sure that we are strengthening our roots here.”

Caissa K-12, Caissa Public Strategy and Wilson Public Relations will be housed on the 17th floor of Clark Tower in East Memphis. 

Both Bond and Wilson said the move will enable them to attract and hire additional high-level talent, expand their client base and provide more comprehensive services to clients. Wilson said she doesn’t love the phrase “one-stop-shop.”

“However, having all these resources, you know, combined and under one roof, just enables us to be the most comprehensive communication firm out there,” she said. “It just enables us again, to be that, you know, comprehensive place where you can get all those different communications pieces.”

Bond said with large clients, like the school districts his team works with around the U.S., they have a variety of public relations and communications needs. 

“Talking about synergies… these different divisions, people can focus on those while being able to provide the client with a different set of skills,” he said. “Oftentimes, school districts are these large clients… they have so many different needs.”

The merged firm has a headcount of 46 employees and two contractors.

Stephens, the co-founder and CEO of Caissa, said combining teams would provide more resources for clients across a variety of industries. 

“This merger allows us to expand the scope of services we offer and maximize client impact, putting Memphis on the map alongside companies in larger metropolitan areas — while maintaining an intimate and familiar relationship with the challenges and opportunities of the local community,” he said. 

This article originally appeared in The Commercial Appeal.