06/26/2006
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Robin Kocina |
In 1988, Robin Kocina and her husband, Lonny, decided to set their entrepreneurial aspirations in motion by building a small marketing business. They quickly attracted several clients by exercising a unique business practice, which charged per news story arranged, rather than by the hour. Through this innovative and widely embraced concept, Media Relations Incorporated trademarked its Pay-Per-Interview Publicity® method and has grown into the largest performance-based public relations firm in the nation.
Over time, the Kocinas outgrew Media Relations Incorporated, added Checkerboard in 1996 and Mid-America Events & Expos Incorporated in 1997 to create what is now called Kocina Marketing Companies.
Checkerboard was started initially as a division of Media Relations and specializes in Web site development, online marketing, as well as hosting and Web site maintenance. Mid-America Events & Expos Incorporated produces events for major corporations throughout the United States and has become one of the Midwest's most highly-regarded event and exposition planning services.
In 1995, Kocina joined NFIB because she believes strongly in the importance of small business in America.
"NFIB offers businesses such as mine an advocate in government," Kocina said. "I particularly appreciate the fact that NFIB tells us how our representatives voted on issues important to small business."
In 2005, she became a member of NFIB/Minnesota's Leadership Council, deepening her involvement in small-business issues. "It quickly became clear to me that NFIB does important work, and that by becoming involved I could help ensure that issues of concern to small businesses continued to be addressed," Kocina added.
As a small-business owner with 53 employees, Kocina is most concerned about employee health insurance, eminent-domain abuse and burdensome taxes. "Rising health-care costs are a concern to all businesses, but especially smaller, privately-owned companies," Kocina said. She also mentioned that eminent domain and nuisance lawsuits have been used in recent years to benefit major corporations, while destroying small businesses in the process.
Despite several challenges over the years, Kocina says the best part about being a small-business owner is watching the business develop and working with a bright, talented and close-knit team.
"There's tremendous satisfaction in seeing the positive impact that a small business such as ours can have on a large community of nearly three million people," Kocina said. "Not only do we make an economic impact, we also offer internships to help young people launch their careers."
Kocina Marketing Companies is truly a family business, as Robin and Lonny Kocina are co-owners of Media Relations, Inc., their son Jason is president of Checkerboard, and his wife, Melissa, is a sales representative for Mid-America Events & Expos, Inc. The Kocina's two youngest children, Claire and Clayton, enjoy helping with miscellaneous tasks during school breaks, and the Kocinas expect their granddaughter, Piper, who is still in diapers, to be involved with the family business in a few years.
For more information about Kocina Marketing Companies, visit them online at www.publicity.com.
