By Kari Fry
Staff from The Centaur Group Goes On To Nonprofits, Campaigns, Higher Ed – Continuing its quest to nurture home grown talent, Davis-based firm The Centaur Group (TCG) has trained UC Davis students as interns and staff that moved on to area nonprofits, local advocacy efforts – and now political races.
Founded in 2011 as a partnership between Kari Fry and Kemble Pope and established as an LLC in 2012, TCG has offices in downtown Davis. Co-founder Kari Fry is the managing partner of the full service consulting firm that assists clients with branding, digital and traditional media, and information systems. Pope remains a silent partner, but has since gone on to serve as executive director of the Davis Chamber of Commerce.
“We established the firm to provide professional support to the many individuals and organizations working to make Davis, Yolo County and the Sacramento region an even better place to live-but we also realized that very same effort could start with us,” Fry said. “That’s why we’ve made a point of hiring UC Davis students and graduates, keeping that talent and energy local, sharing with them what we know, and then encouraging them to pursue their own business careers and public service, often within the region.”
Laura McCollough, who for the past two years has served as a research fellow at TCG, is now moving on to serve as Deputy Campaign Manager for Dan Wolk for Assembly 2014. She joined the firm as an undergraduate intern in 2011. She assisted with numerous projects including support for the Yes on Measure E (school parcel tax) campaigns. Since graduating from UC Davis in 2012, McCollough continued as a consultant for TCG to work on the Yes on Measure I (Clean Water for Davis) campaign and as a project manager for several technology implementations for TCG clients. TCG will not be participating in the June 2014 primary for the 4th Assembly District.
“It’s hard to attend UC Davis and not grow to love this community, which is why I’ve both appreciated my time at The Centaur Group and am excited about this new opportunity,” McCollough said. “The firm provided a great place to learn and I am eager to use those skills in a new setting.”
McCollough is one of several success stories of UC Davis students who have gained professional experience at TCG. Brooke Carpenter left the firm last year to serve as a deputy campaign manager in a hard-fought San Francisco Board of Supervisors race and now works with Bay Area Safe Alternatives, and Emily Paciolla left this year to work with the National Wildlife Refuge Association. The firm has three other UC Davis graduates on staff: Neil Ruud, creative director; Zac Maybury, director of technology; and Catherine Hawe, who serves as a consultant while also attending the McGeorge School of Law. Also on staff is Sam Ngeru, a program director who is currently finishing his senior year at UC Davis.
TCG has created a unique business model that cultivates campaign, communications, project management and technology implementation skills for pro bono community benefit like support of the Yes on A (school parcel tax), Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor’s “Soup’s On” events and Senior Citizens of Davis. Those newly-honed skills are then leveraged to support paid clients like Yolo Farm to Fork’s Tour de Cluck, the successful Dan Maguire for Yolo County Superior Court campaign and the Yolo Food Bank. The TCG client roster also includes the Vacaville Chamber of Commerce, the Crepeville Inc. group of restaurants and John Natsoulas Gallery.
The Centaur Group is a communications and information systems firm creating dynamic solutions that meet the complex needs of businesses and organizations in today’s fast-paced markets. Founded in 2011, as stated, as a partnership between Kari Fry and Kemble Pope, and established as an LLC in 2012, TCG began with a simple idea: improve quality of life and have fun doing it. Since then, TCG has worked with various campaigns, organizations, and individuals to increase funding to public schools, build lasting community infrastructure, and support economic development in the Central Valley. Today TCG stays true to its founding values of community service, good governance, and innovation. Working with our clients throughout the Central Valley we spread and strengthen these ideals. More information on the firm, its services, and its staff can be found online at thecentaurgroup.com.
This sounds like it was pulled verbatim from a company website. Is there a point to this article beyond advertising?
I don’t know, Jim, it brought a smile to my face. Is a series of featured stories on organizations active in our community such a bad thing? Do all the stories in the VG have to be controversial or doom and gloom?
-Michael Bisch
i think the point was to address some of the questions that arose last week. unfortunately she did not address my concerns which are: what is TCG? what is kemble pope’s (executive director of the chamber) current role in the organization? and how are they soliciting clients?
I see it as an answer to the questions about Kenble and his company etc which ere brought up last week. No?
I think that all of the above comments have some validity with regard to the purpose and nature of this piece.
As a member of the Vanguard editorial board I have another perspective. The Vanguard has, for sometime, been soliciting articles from community members who because of vocation or avocation may have a distinct perspective on some aspect of public interest that is not normally given much notice in public discourse and which may not be covered by the Vanguard due to lack of time and resources.
I welcome future articles from Kari Fry and any member of the community who has a perspective to share on innovations, projects, or iniatives that may be of interest to the community.
I think that these articles are most effective when the author takes the time to respond to reader comments as this is what truly builds upon the Vanguards mission to serve as a place for community dialogue.
but if kari is not going to come on here and answer people’s questions, this is just like a top-down-newspaper.
FWIW, the same article — maybe with minor differences — appeared in today’s Enterprise.
DP
My hope is that Kari will check in periodically and respond. It’s stille early in the day. let’s give her a chance.
true – i’ll hold back on the “big guns”….
DP
Great ….. But please make sure that you don’t hold back on the ” big questions” ; )
medwoman said . . .
[i]”I think that all of the above comments have some validity with regard to the purpose and nature of this piece.
As a member of the Vanguard editorial board I have another perspective. The Vanguard has, for sometime, been soliciting articles from community members who because of vocation or avocation may have a distinct perspective on some aspect of public interest that is not normally given much notice in public discourse and which may not be covered by the Vanguard due to lack of time and resources.
I welcome future articles from Kari Fry and any member of the community who has a perspective to share on innovations, projects, or iniatives that may be of interest to the community.
I think that these articles are most effective when the author takes the time to respond to reader comments as this is what truly builds upon the Vanguards mission to serve as a place for community dialogue.”[/i]
As both an individual and as a member of the Vanguard Editorial Board, I concur with medwoman. Hopefully Kari will choose to post in this comments thread.
I worked with Laura McCollough on the Measure I campaign, she’s fantastic and I am thrilled to have her on Team Wolk!
Davis Progressive: Here is Kemble’s post from a prior thread:
[quote]2) TCG – I had operated as an independent consultant for many years, but in early 2011 decided that I needed to bring in a business partner. In August 2011, I signed a three-year lease on an office downtown and shortly thereafter, Kari and I developed a cost sharing partnership agreement. When it rains, it pours… and just three months later was approached (out of the blue) about the Chamber position. Then, in late 2012, Kari needed to hire people to help her at TCG. We felt too exposed to liability, so decided to incorporate as an LLC which was completed in December 2012.
Let me repeat here, Davis Progressive, the dates you found on your Google search are all absolutely correct… you just didn’t understand, nor ask, for the nuanced details.
The Chamber’s BOD has always been fully aware of my role within TCG, which has evolved over time to the point that I currently spend about an hour or two per week talking with my business partner. As per my agreement with the BOD to wind down my clients at TCG, I have not received any income from TCG since June 2012 and there are no accruing future payouts.
Let me also take this opportunity to state, unequivocally, that I have one boss, in the form of the Board of Directors of the Davis Chamber of Commerce.
As for Davis Progressive’s question… there is nothing “strange” about TCG, perhaps a better word is “rare”. It is a consulting firm that does A LOT of pro bono work for local nonprofits. I suggest you check out the website to learn more. http://www.thecentaurgroup.com.
My relationship with Kari Fry? She is my business partner, she and her husband and my wife and I like to play card games together and we regularly spend time with their entire family (parents and children). Kari does NOT use her influence with me to get paid clients for TCG… If you have evidence otherwise, please present it. If you have a hunch otherwise, why don’t you call me and ask me about it? 530-756-5160. [/quote]
Kari does not have a logon ID for the Vanguard, so in the interests of providing as timely as possible answers to people’s questions, she has sent them to me and asked me to post them.
Kari’s clarification Part 1:
[quote]To clarify, this was a press release sent out to The Davis Enterprise, The California Aggie, The Sacramento Bee, and The Sacramento Business Journal. This is a press release that we have been working on for a few weeks at TCG, not in response to anything being discussed on the Vanguard. I do not read the Vanguard. I sent this press release to Matt Williams as someone I respect in the community and because it was the first time TCG has ever put out press therefore I felt it was important to deliver it to the entire local news community.[/quote]
Kari’s clarification Part 2:
[quote]This piece started as an exercise in transparency as one of our staff, Laura McCollough, made the decision to except an offer to work on Dan Wolk’s State Assembly campaign.
Laura has been very active in our local political landscape wearing her TCG hat and we wanted to both clarify and celebrate her big move. (TCG made a decision very early on to stay professionally neutral in the Assembly race.)
Upon sitting down to write the piece, it occurred to me that we have additional accomplishments to celebrate.[/quote]
Kari’s clarification Part 3:
[quote]I do not understand why I am expected to show up here to answer “big questions.” News outlets usually call to clarify information or conduct an additional interview prior to publishing. It was my understanding that Kemble has already addressed concerns over his silent partner status at TCG, while he focuses on his very important work at the Chamber.
I am happy to chat with anyone who would like further information as it relates to an interview for a more in depth news article, or who would like to have a discussion offline. [/quote]
Kari’s clarification Part 4:
[quote]Bottom line, we are good people trying to do good things for our community. My heart is in everything I do, especially TCG. I am comfortable letting our community reputation stand on its own.
Aside from that, I will not continue to participate in this thread. I have a responsibility to my staff to stay focused on growing our business, as I am also a mother of two young children and serve on the Board of both The Davis Schools Foundation and the Yolo Food Bank. Today I have my sister and her family visiting from Reno. We are making chocolate chip cookie cupcakes with a Reese’s peanut butter cup in the middle and brownie mix on top. I’m pretty sure I have my priorities straight.
I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their Sunday.[/quote]
I’m on board with the priorities thing, but I still don’t see the original article as anything more than a puff piece. Regarding Vanguard editorial policy, I’m not finding the “distinct perspective on some aspect of public interest” here. Color me confused.
I agree Jim. always a bit anticlimatic when the witch hunts ends without the witch. Maybe we need to dig deeper than the peanut butter cup with the brownie mix on top. Hey wait, look at the photo. I’snt that the Mace 383 acres with her logo on top?
Matt, despite Kari’s explanations, I’m with DP, there’s clearly something nefarious about this TCG piece. As soon as DP starts firing away with the “big guns” I’m going to help reload.
-Michael Bisch
Oh, woops! I failed to disclose TCG is a tenant in one of the properties we manage. As soon as someone uncovers one of their nefarious schemes, I’d be happy to evict them.
-Michael Bisch
In the future, I think press releases that have been sent to multiple media outlets should be identified as such as part of the headline, or as an introduction. It isn’t unreasonable for blog participants to think they’ve been written especially for the Vanguard, as they appear to be just like the other articles here. So it leads to miscommunication and misunderstandings.
i don’t see why it matters don, we’re all intelligent and the enterprise article states, “special to the enterprise”
are they paying rent michael? what is their client list?
[quote]In the future, I think press releases that have been sent to multiple media outlets should be identified as such as part of the headline, or as an introduction. [/quote]
I suggest identifying all press releases as such, regardless of whether they’re published elsewhere or not. I read the Vanguard for local news, analysis and opinion, not fluff. When I got to the end of this release I thought, “That was a total waste of time.” When I want to waste time online, I have an app for that: Facebook.
What’s the big surprise? Many if not most of the Vanguard’s columns are just rehashed Enterprise or SacBee articles.
No, they’re not paying rent. They’re squatters. Their client list consists of DP, medwoman, JF, SODA, and Krovoza.
-Michael Bisch
Thanks DT ….. I could use a boost right about now ; )
Jim Frame siad . . .
[i]”When I want to waste time online, I have an app for that: Facebook.”[/i]
I needed a good chuckle Jim. That was indeed a good one. 8>)
Growth Izzue said . . .
[i]”What’s the big surprise? Many if not most of the Vanguard’s columns are just rehashed Enterprise or SacBee articles.”[/i]
GI, you are such a cynic. . .
“Bottom line, we are good people trying to do good things for our community. My heart is in everything I do…”
While I don’t get a chance to see Kari very often anymore, we did spend a lot of time together when our kids were born, I can attest to the above statement. I wish her and her company the best.
[quote]GI, you are such a cynic. . . [/quote]
Matt, I just calls em like I sees em.
I didn’t know it was a press release until the comments section. However that would explain why Kari Fry was referring to herself in the third person, which was quite odd. Not sure if that is the Vanguard’s fault or the Centaur People’s fault.
Also, this line “…Pope remains a silent partner…” cracked me up since Kemble isn’t really the silent type, is he?