How to choose a PR firm in the Midwest

A PR firm is hired for earned media, reputation and the relationships behind both. You are not buying a guaranteed story. You are buying a team that knows which outlets matter and can do the unglamorous work of getting a reporter what they need.

Retainers and launch projects fail in different ways. A retainer with no story is a calendar of outreach. A launch with no follow-up is a week of attention. Know which one you need.

Write these down before you talk to a PR firm. A vague brief produces a vague price.

• Name the outlets your buyers actually read. If you cannot, say so and let that be part of the job.
• Decide whether this is ongoing coverage, a launch, a crisis plan, or reputation work.
• Write down what you will not say in public.
• Name the executive who will get on the phone with a reporter this month, not someday.

Ask each firm the same list. The useful part is the difference in the answers, not a polished version of the question.

• Which reporters do you already talk to in this category, and what did you place there recently?
• What does a month with no story look like, and what did you do in it?
• Who writes, who pitches, and who is senior enough to tell us an idea is weak?
• How do you measure the work besides a clip count?
• What do you need from an executive, and what happens if they go quiet?

the Midwest covers several states. Firms in different states can all belong on this list and still differ on price, travel and who shows up. State and city pages count where the listed firms are based. They do not rank cities.

A region named on a homepage is not the same thing as an office in your city. Use the city and state on the profile.

15 PR firms are on this list in the Midwest, re-checked September 28, 2026. Nobody pays to be ranked. They are based in Chicago, IL (4); Minneapolis, MN (2); Bloomington, MN (1); Cleveland, OH (1); Columbus, OH (1); Des Moines, IA (1); Detroit, MI (1); Grand Rapids, MI (1), and 3 more cities.

Where a team size is stated: 7 are 11–50 people, 5 are 51–200 people. 3 do not state a size.

9 of 15 state a founding year. The earliest stated year is 1961 and the latest is 2006.

14 of 15 name a leader. 7 of 15 name at least one client. 0 of 15 publish a price. If a profile leaves a line out, no source stated it.

Specialties named by more than one firm: public relations (5); crisis communications (3); public affairs (3); B2B public relations (2); marketing (2); media relations (2).

In the list's order: Padilla, Fahlgren Mortine, Dix & Eaton, Public Communications Inc., Franco, Borshoff, Tunheim, Bellmont Partners, LLYC (formerly Lambert), Walker Sands, Bader Rutter, Standing Partnership, Greentarget, Zapwater Communications, LS2group.

Write the job in one paragraph. Keep the two or three firms whose reason for being here matches that job.

Open each profile. It says who leads the firm, work they can show, and a price if they published one. If they did not publish a price, the profile shows a typical estimate and says it is not a quote.

Then ask each firm for one piece of work like yours, and the name of the person who would do it.

The order weighs how long the firm has done the work, clients it can name, its size, and how clear its specialism is. Nobody pays to be ranked.

This list has no featured card. Nothing on it is paid placement.

If a profile leaves out a leader, a price, or a founding year, no source stated it.

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Open a firm for who leads it, work it can show, any price it published, and why it made the list.

• 01 Padilla — Minneapolis, MN
• 02 Fahlgren Mortine — Columbus, OH
• 03 Dix & Eaton — Cleveland, OH
• 04 Public Communications Inc. — Chicago, IL
• 05 Franco — Detroit, MI
• 06 Borshoff — Indianapolis, IN
• 07 Tunheim — Bloomington, MN
• 08 Bellmont Partners — Minneapolis, MN
• 09 LLYC (formerly Lambert) — Grand Rapids, MI
• 10 Walker Sands — Chicago, IL
• 11 Bader Rutter — Milwaukee, WI
• 12 Standing Partnership — St. Louis, MO
• 13 Greentarget — Chicago, IL
• 14 Zapwater Communications — Chicago, IL
• 15 LS2group — Des Moines, IA

These pages group firms that share a city or a state on this list. A place with one listed firm links from the comparison page straight to that firm's profile.

• Where they are based
• Chicago, IL (4)
• Minneapolis, MN (2)
• Illinois (4)
• Minnesota (3)
• Michigan (2)
• Ohio (2)