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Pleasant Prairie board authorizes staff to negotiate communications contract with A5 Branding and Digital
Summary
Trustees voted to authorize staff to negotiate a contract with A5 Branding and Digital to provide villagewide marketing and communications services, a change that could replace the current three-person in-house communications team and will be negotiated to meet the villages $348,000 annual communications budget.
The Pleasant Prairie Village Board on Jan. 12 voted to authorize staff to negotiate a contract with A5 Branding and Digital to provide marketing and communications services to the village, including work for the RecPlex.
Village Administrator Eric Renflesh framed the decision as a potential efficiency move and said the staff recommendation and vendor interviews led to the selection of A5 for negotiation. Communications Manager Steven Lin, who addressed the board before the vote, cautioned that the proposal represents "a permanent change to how communications are delivered" and warned of transition risk if institutional knowledge is lost. Lin said in-house staff provide ready, on-site knowledge that helps staff respond quickly.
A5 co-founder John Harris and his team outlined services the firm would provide and repeatedly said they could work within the village's $348,000 annual communications budget and establish a local presence. Harris said the firms goal was to become "an extension of the community and your team" and emphasized municipal and parks-and-recreation experience.
Trustee Mike Polokoff moved to authorize staff to negotiate the contract; Trustee James Kramer seconded. The board voted in favor by voice vote and the motion carried. Administrators said final contract terms will be returned to the board for approval and that the draft will address ownership of deliverables, performance metrics and transition timing.
