Paul Furiga is chief storyteller, founder, and CEO of WordWrite Communications, a full-service public relations and strategic communications firm based in Pittsburgh. Paul started WordWrite, along with his wife Brenda, in 2002, initially running the business out of his home office. Since then, WordWrite has grown significantly and today operates from a historic downtown office building that houses ten of its employees. The firm currently works with local and national clients in the health care, financial, industrial and professional services sectors.
Paul’s passion for storytelling, which he honed during two decades as a journalist, inspired him to form WordWrite. During his years in news, he served as editor of the Pittsburgh Business Times and as deputy bureau chief and correspondent for Thomson Newspapers, Washington, D.C. bureau. He has also served as a senior editor for OhioWeek magazine, and as a reporter for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Before founding WordWrite, Paul was a vice president at Ketchum Public Relations in Pittsburgh, where he served clients including Bridgestone/Firestone, Delta Air Lines and Rutgers University.
Both Paul and WordWrite have received significant recognition for their work. In 2013, Paul was honored by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) with The Renaissance Hall of Fame Award. The chapter’s highest honor, the award is presented to a veteran public relations professional who has made a substantial impact in the Pittsburgh region. WordWrite has received PRSA Renaissance Awards for media relations and social media, and International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Golden Triangle Awards for speechwriting and organizational identity. Paul is currently working on a book that builds on WordWrite’s proprietary storytelling process, StoryCrafting℠.
Paul is active in the Pittsburgh community, where he serves on the boards of the Rivers Club, River City Brass and IABC Pittsburgh chapter.
Jeremy Church is partner and vice president of media and content strategies at WordWrite Communications. He joined WordWrite in 2011, bringing with him a diverse range of experience in journalism and the nonprofit and professional services sectors. He is responsible for the development, execution and management of media relations and content creation strategies for clients. He also helps direct overall client strategies to help companies earn exposure with the target audiences they want to reach and influence.
Jeremy’s specialties include media relations, long and short-form writing, and web content management. His skills have helped WordWrite clients earn local, regional and national media results in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Fox Business Network, multiple ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Jeremy credits his strong journalistic roots for giving him the necessary background needed to become a great PR professional.
After beginning his career in suburban Columbus, Ohio covering sports for local and regional newspapers, Jeremy took his talents to Culver Academy, a prestigious boarding school located in the state of Indiana, where he was in charge of public relations functions. But he couldn’t stay away from his hometown of Pittsburgh for too long. He would soon return to the Steel City to work in media relations for the nationally renowned musical theater producer, the Pittsburgh CLO. Before coming to WordWrite, he served a stint in the marketing and business development department at the law firm Burns White LLC, where he helped the firm’s attorneys develop thought leadership in their respective practice areas.
A lifelong hockey fan and former collegiate player, Jeremy is heavily involved in coaching youth hockey in the Pittsburgh area. He has 15 years of experience as a Level 4 USA Hockey-certified coach and spent five years as a varsity head coach at the high school level. Some of the players he’s coached have now reached the top ranks of the sport, including the NHL.
