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By Stephen Nellis Staff Writer
So what makes Paladin Principle,
a recently launched public affairs
and consulting company based in
Oxnard, different from other firms
offering similar services?
For one thing, they actually
believe in the companies they
represent.
"People can tell whether you're
representing something you aren't
committed to or whether you're
representing something you do
believe in," said Fred Trueblood,
one of the firm's four founding
consultants. "We don't have to walk
into a room full of people or walk
into a meeting and wonder what it is
that we're going to say. We already
know that because we believe it.
That single notion makes a big
difference."
The group has the luxury of being
choosy with its clients at least in
part because three of its four
founding members -- Trueblood, Ernie
Villegas and Lin Graf -- are all
retired. Jeff Gorell adds a splash
of youthful energy at age 36. The
firm, launched last September, has
become something of a go-to company
for mid-sized companies' public
relations needs, especially
concerning pressing California
issues. Its current roster of seven
clients includes businesses as
diverse as the Cabrillo Economic
Development Corp., a company that
provides affordable housing, the
Gold Coast Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce, Limoneira Co., an
agribusiness company, and Clearwater
Port, the company vying to put a
liquefied natural gas port off the
coast of Ventura County with minimal
environmental impact.
The group has wide roots. Among
other things, Villegas was mayor of
Fillmore after working in public
affairs for Southern California
Edison Co. for nearly 30 years; Graf
led the Carpinteria Valley Chamber
of Commerce for nearly a decade;
Trueblood has held various community
positions in Camarillo, Antelope
Valley and Santa Clarita Valley; and
Gorell wrote speeches for former
Gov. Pete Wilson before taking over
communications for the California
Manufacturers and Technology
Association.
"The power of this group is
really the diversity of experience.
Between us, there really isn't an
issue or activity that we haven't
touched or been touched by,"
Trueblood said. "When a client hires
us, that's what they receive: not
just a one-man shop, but a
collective intelligence."
Trueblood said the company
spotted an opportunity in the
consulting market. Between the
single consultants servicing small-
to mid-sized firms and the corporate
behemoths was fertile territory. "It
really became apparent to us that
this mid-market was wide open," he
said. Gorell said Paladin works with
its clients from the earliest stages
of mapping a strategy to
implementing that strategy on the
ground, all while taking advantage
of the members' extensive
relationships in Ventura, Santa
Barbara and northern Los Angeles
counties.
"We're less like Aerosmith and
more like John Fogerty: a little
more grassroots," Gorell said. "This
community is very sophisticated.
They're not fooled by the gloss and
pomp and circumstance of these
larger run campaigns and issue
management efforts. They see right
through that. We connect with them
one on one, one handshake at a time,
one organizational summit at a time.
That's our method of execution." |
