EXERPT FROM CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS (APRIL 25, 2022) By: Nick Maines

Just seven weeks after a sudden departure from the Detroit public relations firm with his name on the front door, Peter Van Dyke is back with a new venture.

Van Dyke and two other partners — Jamie Kaye Walters and Michael Sherman — have formed VVK PR & Creative LLC, a Detroit-based communications firm focused on public relations, video production, and other services.

Launching Monday with a team of more than a dozen staffers and revenue-generating clients on board, the nascent company is essentially “a startup with an incredibly strong foundation,” Van Dyke said.

The article continues.

In an interview with Crain’s last week, Van Dyke said plans for the new firm, VVK, were not yet in motion at the time of his resignation. The type of business VVK seeks to be, however, has been part of a “long-term vision.”
The “foundation” Van Dyke mentioned consists of bringing Sherman and Walters’ long-standing company, video production firm Velocity Cow LLC, under the umbrella of the new VVK firm.

Sherman will serve as VVK partner and executive vice president of production. He started Velocity Cow with Walters in 2008, and will bring his nationwide portfolio of clients and six team members to the new agency. Walters, who served as creative services and programing director at WDIV-TV for eight years after co-founding Velocity Cow with Sherman, will serve as VVK’s COO and partner, and will lead the agency’s marketing practice and talent development.

Sherman said that over time, Velocity Cow will wind down and all of its work will be shifted to the new entity.

The company’s name, VVK, stands for Van Dyke, Velocity Cow and Jamie Kaye Walters, according to Van Dyke.
The three principals have worked together on various projects in the past, and bringing their skills under one roof felt like a natural fit and helps fill a gap in the marketplace, they said.

“What’s really exciting about our company is that it’s pretty hard to compete in today’s communications landscape without having integrated services,” Van Dyke said. “Video and digital and earned media are all part of the storytelling process. And having those all under one roof with a really smart group of team members who are working together to help tell our clients’ stories is a great benefit to the clients that we have, and then clients that we’re seeking to get in the future.”

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.