FAYETTEVILLE, AR  — Mitchell Communications is expanding from its hub in Arkansas to New York and Chicago, while still retaining its distributed workforce model.

Mitchell is a $14.5 million consumer shop with 85 full-time employees across five states and another 30 project employees distributed across 30 states. Its client roster includes names like Walmart, Sam’s Club, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Proctor & Gamble. Earlier this year, the firm -- a darling of agency of the year awards, in part, for its staggering growth -- was acquired by the Dentsu Network, a worldwide network of agencies operated by a Japanese marketing powerhouse.

The majority of its workforce will remain in Arkansas, while three people will be in both its Chicago and New York operations. Sarah Larsen, most recently SVP at Ogilvy PR, has been hired as GM and SVP of the Chicago office. Tracy Shea, formerly of Coyne, will be VP of digital and social strategy based in New York; and Dee Bhambhani, previously with Hill+Knowlton Strategies, has been appointed director in the New York office. Because agency CEO Elise Mitchell is often in New York, no GM for that office has been named.

“We’ve taken a blended strategy to hire locally in each region and also transfer existing Mitchell employees to the new office,” said Mitchell. “We’ve built a powerful agency culture throughout the years and now we have the challenge of transporting that no matter where we go.”  

The three offices will retain Mitchell's single profit-and-loss structure and the new locales will draw upon the Fayetteville office for creative and digital; research and insights; training and editorial services.

The decision to open new offices was “entirely client-driven because of the rapid growth of the firm and the need to get closer with clients and also collaborate more closely with partner [Dentsu] agencies to scale nationally and globally,” said president Sarah Clark.

Sister Dentsu agencies include mcgarrybowen and 360i, among others.