MINNEAPOLIS—Matt Kucharski has been promoted to president of PadillaCRT. He succeeds Mark Raper, who moves into the new role of chief counsel officer. Lynn Casey continues as the company’s CEO. Kucharski joined the agency in 1989 and leads the agency’s business-to-business and business-to-consumer practices. In his new role, the agency’s health practice also will report to Kucharski.

ST. LOUIS—FleishmanHillard has hired Tim Race, a 27-year veteran of The New York Times, and appointed five regional media relations leads. Race brings experience overseeing coverage for the automotive, healthcare, technology, energy and other major industry sectors. He will be based in New York and will serve as a senior level strategist, helping design and shape the editorial approach for clients. The five regional media relations leads are Jan Rasmussen, Americas; James Dyson and Patrick Yu, APAC; Peter Meikle, EMEA; and Denise Rockenbach, Latin America.

NEW YORK—Cognito, a specialist communications agency for the financial services industry, has appointed Ryan Barr as a managing director in New York and a member of the global executive team. Formerly a managing director at Burson-Marsteller, Ryan ran programs for Bank of America and MassMutual. Previously, he was the co-head of Hill & Knowlton’s New York corporate communications group and led its financial communications and investor relations practice.

MIAMI—JeffreyGroup, the Latin American communications agency, has promoted Martín Bidegaray to director of its insights and analysis practice. From the company's headquarters in Miami, Bidegaray leads a team of professionals across the firm's offices in Latin America. He joined JeffreyGroup in 2014 and was tasked with increasing the firm's data-driven capabilities, building on the agency's PubTracker media monitoring and analysis system.

SYOSSET, NY—Digital agency Millennium Communications has hired public relations industry veteran John Hollywood as senior vice president, client services. Hollywood’s PR career includes 13 years at Porter Novelli and senior roles at Cohn & Wolfe and Zeno. He has worked with clients including Walmart, Mercedes-Benz, Reckitt Benckiser, P&G, PepsiCo, Hennessey, Timberland, the National Football League and Pfizer.

BALTIMORE—Fallston Group, a Baltimore-based, global reputation agency, has added Andrea Lynn as marketing communications manager. Prior to joining Fallston Group, Lynn was assistant director of marketing and development at The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region and previously held positions with the Harford County Chamber of Commerce and the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center.

PLYMOUTH, MA—Hollywood Public Relations has added Beth Gibbons as an account manager on its nonprofit and consumer teams. She previously worked at Brodeur Public Relations and Elevate Communications. The agency has also promoted account supervisor, Monica Higgins, to senior account supervisor.