Prineville hires PR firm to get its message out

The city of Prineville has hired a public relations firm to handle city communication and help boost its image.

“(We’re) trying to be open and tell the community what we’re doing,” City Manager Steve Forrester said Thursday. “We’re really doing some wonderful things, and we just don’t have a platform to talk about that effectively.”

Under direction of the city council, the city has been working on a solution for months. Forrester recently hired Jakie Spring Media, a husband-and-wife public relations team with deep roots in Prineville.

“My family has been around Prineville for generations,” said Jakie Spring Media owner Bill Mintiens. “We saw the opportunity here to help this community really get the word out about the good things that are happening down here.”

The firm is contracted for a four-month probation period. The Mintiens will work 10 hours a week for $1,500 a month. After the term is up, the city will decide if it wants to continue using public relations services. If they choose to move forward, the contract will go out to bid.

It’s the first time Prineville has hired anyone for a communications-related role.

“Prineville has really not blown its horn as much as it could, and part of that is the city has been so busy doing its normal functions,” Mintiens said.

Forrester hopes the move will help the city move past recent challenges — a fired police chief, a 200-person job loss after a mill collapse and an economy still on the mend.

“Two of the biggest, most dynamic companies in the world (Facebook and Apple) are sited here in our community, we have a new hospital going in, we have investment in a new school,” Forrester said. “And we have a host of other things going on that are very exciting — with transportation, with wastewater management, water development.”

The firm plans to use both social and traditional media to boost Prineville’s image and share what’s happening.