Cap Square Veterans Merge PR Practices
Columbus, Ohio (Nov. 13, 2024) – Two veterans of Capitol Square politics and communications today announced the formation of Kestrel Communications. Coming most recently from sole proprietorships, Jen Detwiler and Jonathan Varner said they were looking forward to building a new business together. The firm will offer strategic communications consulting with special expertise in public affairs.
“Having worked together with great success on several large, complex projects over the past decade, it has long been a goal of mine to find ways to continue to collaborate with Jonathan,” Detwiler said. “When we both found ourselves in a period of professional transition, we jumped at the opportunity to partner on a new business.”
Detwiler left Steiner Public Relations in 2024 after spending more than a decade working alongside well-known “fixer” Curt Steiner.
Varner expects the new company to quickly establish a presence in Ohio’s board rooms and C-suite Rolodexes.
“The new company has every capability that our prior firms did – public relations, issue advocacy, strategic planning, advertising, and voter contact – and we’re going to continue to work on behalf of businesses, nonprofits, industry associations, and others,” said Varner.
Varner is leaving a resting period after selling his political consulting and advertising company, JVA Campaigns, to his partners. He founded and ran JVAC since 2007.
Steiner, who continues to operate Steiner Public Relations on Capitol Square, was enthusiastic about the new partnership. “Jen was my right hand at Steiner PR for 13 years and Jonathan has been a critical player in some of our biggest projects,” he said. “I see this as just another way the three of us will continue to do great work together.”
People can learn more about the new company at KestrelPR.com.