Mayor Battle Announces New Communications Director
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Huntsville, AL -Mayor Tommy Battle announced today that Kelly Cooper Schrimsher will serve as the city's new Communications Director beginning Monday. Schrimsher comes to the Mayor's office with more than 22 years experience in media and communications, having worked as an anchor and/or reporter at television stations and newspapers in Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville, and Austin, Texas, and as director of communications at Randolph School and marketing for Schrimsher Properties.
"Kelly Schrimsher's years of experience in marketing and strategic communications combined with her coverage of a broad array of city issues make her uniquely positioned to lead our communications effort," said Mayor Battle. "She is well-respected among her peers and she is versed in the complex issues facing the city. Her leadership and counsel will be invaluable to me and to the entire administration."
Schrimsher began her journalism career in the late 1970s working for the Marietta Daily Journal in Georgia, before moving to Huntsville to work with WAFF-TV 48. She subsequently worked as anchor and reporter for WAAY-TV 31 and KTBC - 7 in Austin, Texas, and as correspondent for the Birmingham Post-Herald. She earned Associated Press and Huntsville Press Club honors, including "Best" awards for anchoring, reporting, feature and documentary work that included in-depth series on aging and a series on growth and development in Huntsville. Her reportorial work focused on city government; Schrimsher routinely covered the mayor's office, city council, planning commission and school board. She covered the city's first slope development initiative, its downtown master plans, and environmental issues as they related to growth and development.
Schrimsher created the marketing and communications department at Randolph School in 1998 where she was responsible for internal and external communications, media relations, publications, marketing and web site. Her work on an admissions view book and related materials won a first place Gold award from CASE. From 2002-2007, Schrimsher also taught a high school journalism class which produced an award-winning student newspaper, The Raider's Digest.
Most recently, Schrimsher served as marketing director for Schrimsher Properties, a Huntsville-based real estate and development company. A member of the Huntsville Planning Commission, she serves on the Downtown Core Committee, Huntsville Committee of 100, Biz Pac Board, and on the Public Relations Advisory Council for the school of journalism and communications at Auburn University.
A native of Houston, Texas, she grew up in Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and Atlanta, and is a journalism graduate of Auburn University.
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