Doyle Retires from RDW Group

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

GoLocalWorcester Business Team

Mike Doyle, former top aide to Congresswoman Claudine Schneider and Governor Ed DiPrete and the co-founder and chairman of RDW Group, Inc., has announced his retirement from the communications agency he founded. RDW has offices in Worcester, Providence, and owns Boston-based iFactory. Doyle was raised in Worcester.

"It was a great ride, and it will be difficult to step away from a life that has been a beloved passion of mine for so long. Also, it’s gratifying to know that I’m leaving the agency in very capable hands. It has been a pleasure to work alongside an incredibly talented staff and with a wide range of clients to produce award-winning work throughout the years,” said Doyle.

Big Wins

Doyle was the man behind the scene for many of the biggest projects in New England. Big wins for Doyle, include: the expansion of TF Green (when only 20% of the public supported the project), Providence Place Mall, and the expansion of Twin River Casino.

Prior to founding RDW Group, Doyle served in a variety of top-level roles in the administration of Governor Ed DiPrete. In the mid-1980s, he joined with top aide to then-U.S. Senator John H. Chafee, Phil Rivers and former newpaper reporter Tom Walsh to create the Providence-based ad agency. Later, they acquired Dubois Patch in Worcester.

“We appreciate and honor Mike’s leadership of the agency, and we will carry on his legacy of outstanding client relations and commitment to community service,” said Jim Pontarelli, president of RDW Group. “Mike’s formidable talent will surely be missed. We thank him for his unwavering dedication to this institution and to the impressive body of work he accomplished during his tenure.”

Said Chairman Malachowski, “Mike leaves the agency poised to make major growth investments in social media, digital media and other emerging capabilities, and we look forward to a highly successful future.”

RDW Group's Reach

RDW Group is known nationally in the industry as a leader in the higher education, energy and healthcare markets, with an award-winning interactive services division and a recently divested publishing division that was leading the industry in digital services for the world’s best-known publishers.

”Mike has earned the reputation as a go-to man for his reasoned counsel and strategic mind,” said Phil Rivers, a co-founding partner, also retired. “He has served as a trusted advisor to clients and a mentor to his employees. His financial acumen and understanding of communications trends and adaptability helped the agency weather several recessions and thrive during the economic upticks.”

He grew the agency from a five-employee start-up housed in a three-tenement apartment on the East Side of Providence to one of the largest independently owned advertising and public relations agencies in New England. In addition to spearheading the agency’s organic growth, Doyle acquired companies that expanded the agency’s capacity and geography, including Fern Hanaway, Dubois Patch and iFactory.

He established the RDW Minority Scholarship Fund, awarding scholarships to minority students interested in entering the profession. Additionally, he and his employees have fostered long-standing relationships with the Publicity Club of New England, Public Relations Society of America, American Association of Advertising Agencies, Worcester Ad Club, Boston Ad Club, American Marketing Association, and the former Ad Club of RI.

Doyle is the recipient of the Publicity Club of New England’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Crystal Bell; the Ad Club of Rhode Island’s Person of the Year Award; and dozens of awards for communications excellence earned on behalf of clients. Most significantly, in 2006 Doyle won the Super Bell Award for the “Call Your Rep” campaign in which the agency had 13 days to convince the General Assembly to reconvene after it had adjourned in order to vote on one piece of legislation affecting the fate of Twin River. Super Bell is the best-of-show award of the Publicity Club of New England’s Bell Ringer competition.

Doyle was graduated from Assumption College with honors and earned a master’s degree in communications from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.