GrandPR, Grand Valley State University’s student-run public relations firm, has been granted national affiliation recognition by the Public Relations Student Society of America for the second time since its establishment in 2007. Out of over 100 student-run firms across the nation, only 40 have been granted this recognition.

The Public Relations Student Society of America, or PRSSA, has certain standards that nationally affiliated firms must excel at in order to receive recognition. The three main areas are: maintaining a relationship with their local PRSA parent chapter, exuding professionalism both in and out of the firm and operating using an effective structure, according to the PRSSA website.

GrandPR was established at GVSU in 2007 by a group of students in the advertising and public relations program in the School of Communications. It launched with less than 10 core staff members and a faculty adviser. In 2009, GrandPR began a rebranding process, including restructuring campaigns in order to become nationally affiliated by PRSSA.

Today, it has grown to over 20 members. Its mission is to provide strategic public relations counsel with innovative communication tactics from a fresh perspective, and they hope to continue to improve reputations, build brand awareness and gain desired outcomes with the client’s best interest in mind.

“We’re honored to have received this recognition,” CEO of GrandPR, Daltyn Little, said. “GrandPR is a unique opportunity for Grand Valley students, and having the confidence of PRSSA National behind us will only encourage us to push harder and further to make our educational experiences at Grand Valley the best they can be.”

Olivia Mashak, vice president of operations for GrandPR, said that the standards set by PRSSA are things that the current leadership, and the leaders before them, had worked together to accomplish.

“It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of teamwork. There are over 300 PRSSA chapters across the country and about a third of them have a nationally affiliated student-run firm,” Mashak said. “We are a part of this elite group; we receive recognition at National Conference each year, and we’re on the PRSSA website. This recognition shows that GrandPR staff has been and will continue to move in the right direction and provide the highest quality work for the clients.”

Katie Vanderlinde is an account executive for GrandPR and said PRSSA recognized GrandPR because of their outstanding work.

“I think PRSSA recognized GrandPR because of our commitment to offering a high level of professionalism and our dedication in implementing and executing quality campaigns,” Vanderlinde said. “Receiving this recognition is truly an outstanding honor, and it shows how dedicated and hardworking the GrandPR staff is to providing public relations counsel.”

Vanderlinde went on to say that what makes GrandPR worthy of recognition is that it continually provides outstanding service to clients and continues to embrace three core values: connection, professionalism and structure.

“This recognition means that GrandPR will be a stronger, more unified team, allowing us to expand on our PR skills, grow our staff and clientele base, gain more experience and lastly, create lifelong connections,” Vanderlinde said.

For more information on the GVSU chapter of PRSSA, visit http://www.gvprssa.com/.