Sugar Land staff recommend renewing Lou Hammond Group PR contract after competitive RFP

Sugar Land economic development and redevelopment staff recommended on Dec. 17 that the board renew a contract with Lou Hammond Group for public relations services and align the contract term with the city’s fiscal year, presenting RFP results and claimed earned‑media returns.

Jordan Cutler, the city’s senior marketing manager, said the RFP issued in September 2024 narrowed the city’s scope to outsourced public relations only. "We issued an RFP ... the max budget that we set for that was 140,000," Cutler said, adding staff received six proposals and selected Lou Hammond Group, which proposed a $120,000 annual fee.

Cutler and Emily Pollard, communications manager for the Department of Redevelopment, told the joint workshop the $120,000 figure is substantially below the prior combined PR and marketing contract of $257,000 and that the new amount is planned to be split across SL4B, SL4A (as applicable) and hotel occupancy tax funding at roughly $40,000 each. Pollard highlighted national coverage examples, saying a New York Times story earlier in the year generated significant reach and helped raise the city’s profile.

Staff emphasized the distinction between public relations and other marketing functions handled in‑house. On influencer and creator costs, Cutler said such expenses are treated as reimbursable add‑ons and are budgeted separately, not embedded in the base PR contract.

Board members asked how the city measures earned‑media "ad value" and whether the calculations could be self‑serving. A Lou Hammond representative, Sarah, described the calculation as a formula that multiplies an outlet’s monthly unique visitors by an industry‑standard percentage representing likely viewers of a given story and then by a dollar‑value per visitor to estimate ad value. "We take the monthly unique visitors and then multiply it by a bunch of numbers, and it creates the ad value," she said.

Cutler said the recommended renewal would align contract timing with the fiscal year so the contract can run cleanly through FY27; staff proposed adding $70,000 to the current fiscal period to bridge the term so the contract does not lapse in February and would then carry a 3% annual escalation in later years after FY27.

Next steps: staff said it will bring the renewal back to the joint board in January for a recommendation and to City Council for consideration on Feb. 3 because part of the contract is funded by hotel occupancy tax.

Board members expressed general support for a smaller, more focused PR contract but pressed staff on quality control. One director (Speaker 11) said recent drafts required substantial edits, and staff replied they have an internal review workflow before releases go to the board. The record shows no formal vote on the contract at the Dec. 17 workshop; staff will return with an approval item.