Jeff Welch

CEO

Jeff co-founded MercuryCSC in 1998 and has been a catalyst in the agency’s evolution from a two-person start-up to a leader in developing communications for Geotravelers. Jeff is a passionate traveler, outdoorsman and copywriter who moved to Montana in 1993 after stints at several ad agencies in his native St. Louis. A solid public speaker, Jeff has been a guest of Outdoor Retailer, Advertising Age, ABETA (Brazilian Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association), National Parks Conservation Association, Second Wind Network of small ad agencies, Montana State University and more. He is an alumni of Leadership Montana and a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He resides east of Bozeman in the Shields Valley with his wife Kelly, a self-described femivore who is turning their place into a small farm. Along with their two daughters, they are known to leave for warmer climes each winter to catch fish, stumble through travel Spanish and decompress with margaritas and licuados.

How MercuryCSC connects brands with Geotravelers.

Molly Budinsky

Business Development Manager

A native of Spokane, Wash., Molly came to Montana to earn degrees in Business Management and Business Marketing from Montana State University. Since then, Bozeman has served as base camp for her burgeoning wanderlust, conveniently wrapped around her role at Mercury. Molly joined Mercury’s account services team in 2005. While leading two of the agency’s largest accounts and inspiring them to undertake award-winning, nontraditional campaigns, she also spearheaded pro-bono work for clients like Montana Outdoor Science School. More recently she has taken on the agency’s business development, where she leads and helps facilitate our Geotravel Research Panel. Arguably the owner of the world’s most responsive Blackberry, Molly finds ample filler for the wee hours not consumed by Mercury passion. When she’s not on the soccer field, volunteering for a service organization, trekking through a jungle, logging an 18-mile “day hike” or filling her gullet somewhere in Europe, she enjoys adding to her travel immunization collection and recovering from epic sports injuries.

Understanding the Geotravler's decision making process.

Maclaren Latta

Director of Account Services

Maclaren’s career has taken her from the halls of Congress to washing machines, but her love for the great outdoors always brings her back to the mountains. Joining Mercury in 2008, Maclaren previously spent eight years at Carmichael Lynch Spong where she was a principal and part of a team that lead the agency to be recognized as “Mid-Size Agency of the Year” by PRWeek. A two-time recipient of the “Cause-Related Campaign of the Year” award, Maclaren has led results-driven campaigns that have won more than a dozen national awards in integrated communications for clients including Maytag, Select Comfort and Radisson Hotels & Resorts. Maclaren’s marketing career began at Montana’s Big Sky Resort after spending four years in Washington, D.C., working for a U.S. Senator. A Minnesota native and a graduate of the University of Colorado, she studied international affairs and marketing in Toulon, France. When not skiing, her ideal day includes a hike with her husband, Jamie, and two sons, Yates and Seamus.

The importance of understanding what makes your audience tick.

Mike Harrelson

Director of Public Relations

Mike’s outdoor passions have been the guiding keel in his career. Working in backpacking shops and guiding whitewater throughout his teens, Mike headed to Jackson, Wyo., after completing his BA in English at Virginia Tech. In Jackson, Mike befriended the founder of Patagonia clothing and from there moved onward to Ventura, Calif., where he went to work for the burgeoning brand. Over the next 15 years Mike led Patagonia’s public relations efforts, worked with their creative team and served as product line director for the company’s snowsports division. He has since run his own PR firm and cut his teeth in both outdoor and travel journalism, writing articles for Outside, Backpacker, Powder, Islands and others. In 2001, he and his family took a two-year hiatus to the Big Island of Hawaii to reconnect with his childhood love of surfing. In 2003, Mike joined Mercury as Director of Public Relations. He and his wife Cindy have two boys, Clyde and Mason, who share their love for rock climbing, skiing and far-flung adventure.

The importance of authenticity in connecting with the Geotraveler.

Tanya White

Director of Finance & HR

Joining Mercury in 2006, Tanya may not have mentioned in her resume that in addition to her 15 years of experience as an accountant for a manufacturing company, she also knew how to bleed automobile brakes and remove transmissions. You’d never guess from her manicure that Tanya’s early experience in accounting began in her dad’s auto shop in Montana’s historic mining city, Butte. While it’s not unusual for Mercurians to show up at their laptops tracking trail dust, Tanya’s tastes lean more toward 5-star hotels with fine wines and cabañas. Beaches in Hawaii, Italy and Greece call a little louder to her than frost-caked bivvies on rocky peaks. Sure, when she takes a break from her vigil over Mercury’s bottom line, she’s been known to pack up her husband Thom and kids Kyle and Kenna and head for Banff. Still, with Tanya planning trips, the kids seem to have been to more warm climates than not.

Stacie Wunsch

Account Strategist

Stacie attempted to escape the world of marketing a few times to lead a life of adventure, but it kept drawing her back in. Fortunately, settled in Montana, she finds that she can successfully coexist in both worlds. Stacie’s marketing career began in New York working on accounts as diverse as Chemical Bank, 1-800-Flowers, Ikea, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. She’s led the strategic development and execution of marketing programs for clients such as: Virgin Atlantic Airways, Chase Manhattan Bank, Pearson and Barnes & Noble. Outside of the office, Stacie stays true to her outdoor roots by consulting for Bio Bio Expeditions, an adventure travel company. This allows her to travel to various corners of the world to kayak, hike, ski, mountain bike, fish and raft — all in the name of work.

Caitlin Magbee

Account Manager

Starting in Baton Rouge, La., Caitlin arrived at her spot as one of Mercury’s busiest account executives via bus. Her epiphany occurred at Ole Miss, where she concluded that there is more to life than football. Having skied twice in her life, she hopped a Greyhound to Big Sky and stayed in the shadow of Lone Peak until she had shredded everything on the mountain but her slight southern accent. Completing an English Lit degree at Montana State University, she spent summers climbing glaciers in Denali National Park, savoring sunset dinners in Greece and trekking through South America with her beloved Canon 5D Mark II. Interning at O’Berry Cavanaugh, Caitlin was a account executive there when her track record for landing PR stories and staying on top of media trends caught Mercury’s attention. When not wrangling the details of a campaign, Caitlin is pedaling a road bike, adding to the 20,000 shots on her Flickr site or feeding her Twitter addiction.

Jen Cox

Account Manager

Managing the execution of marketing strategies for the Helena-based Montana Office of Tourism has taken Jen through blizzards on the interstate, but has also led her to discover the delights of listening to the dueling pianos over a tenderloin at Eddie’s Supper Club in Great Falls. Born in Ennis, Jen grew up in Denver but returned to Montana to study Graphic Design at Montana State University, where she later taught design as an adjunct. Prior to Mercury, she tag teamed in design and account services for four years at Classic Ink in Bozeman and more recently was part of the in-house marketing team at Moonlight Basin ski area and resort in Big Sky. Part of Mercury’s account services team since 2009, Jen wins the “most likely to be at your desk after 8pm” award, but she still finds time to keep up with what’s hatching on the local trout streams and spend her weekends sampling the nightlife in Montana towns like White Sulphur Springs. She tries not to let her passion for exploring Montana interfere with her personal commitment to leave U.S. soil at least once a year.

Kendra White

Account Manager

Kendra is a fourth-generation Montanan who managed to find her way back to her hometown after 15 years of working as a designer, art director and publishing project manager in cities throughout the U.S. Learning that Mercury was seeking a production professional in Bozeman was all it took for her to return to the Bridger Mountains with husband, Kevin, and sons Aidan and Adam. Kendra’s interest in history and her classic Montana lifestyle of gardening, cooking and enjoying the arts dovetail with her Mercury duties serving Geotravel clients in our own backyard. When she isn’t locking down the details on projects that draw travelers to the state, she’s traveling herself, or enjoying the outdoors with her family. But after a red-eye to London for 26 hours or a multi-day backpacking trek in the Grand Canyon, she says that there’s still nothing like home and family and feeling connected to your roots.

Emily Coombs

Account/Accounting Coordinator

Originally from East Aurora, N.Y., Emily fell for the Rockies when she spent summers working on a ranch. In 2001, after finishing her BA at SUNY Geneseo, she packed all that would fit in a ‘91 Saab, bound for Bozeman. If you had to guess what Mercury role would be in store for a scholarship-laden English major, former class president, captain of the swim team and member of her college crew team—who wouldn’t peg her as someone who can do it all? Emily has managed everything at Mercury from clients to spreadsheets and back again. Early years as a lifeguard seem to have served her well, as nothing sinks on her watch. Depending on the season, you can find Emily and husband, Joe somewhere in Montana—having milkshakes and BLTs at the Mercantile in Judith Gap, ice skating at the town rink in Philipsburg, road biking or snowshoeing in Hyalite Canyon.

Meggan Carrigg Davidson

Account/Branch Coordinator

Meggan received her degree in Community Health from Western Washington University near her hometown of Bow, Wash., where she met her husband, Tony. As newlyweds, they set out for adventure in Bozeman, but opted for a quirkier small-town experience, 28 miles east, in Livingston. As if the wind from the mouth of Paradise Valley weren’t enough of a flurry, Meggan worked as a team lead for one of the country’s first online printing companies, providing award-winning service for hundreds of client interactions daily. Mercury asked her to join our team as traffic manager in 2007. Meggan currently manages project execution and placement to ensure consistent brand messaging. When she isn’t calming a tempest of media orders, she is traveling, camera in hand. Her lens has captured everything from wild horses stampeding near Three Forks, to village life in Central America, not to mention joyous occasions of all kinds.

Jaclyn Butcher

Account/Media Coordinator

Jaclyn started at Mercury shortly after receiving her degree from Montana State University. She consistently wows our staff. In her three years here, she’s managed to make media buying and scheduling look so effortless that we recently asked her to join our account service team as well.

She has hiked the continental divide trail across Glacier, eaten up the countryside as part of an Irish mountaineering club, been yanked out of a shark-infested rip tide by an Australian life guard, and once, while on a hunting trip in Montana, saw a guy in a bar trade his rifle for a Jello shot. She may look like the person least likely to be driving a red Dodge Ram 1500 or packing a deer rifle, but Jaclyn will surprise you. While much of her curiosity is relegated to keeping up with trends in the digital advertising world, Jaclyn spends her free time running, hiking, and improving her skill and patience at big game hunting.

Joe Bergantine

Interactive Producer

We’ve resisted the temptation to inspect his belly button for a USB port, but how the heck else does he manage to stay so current with interactive? Joe returned to Montana from Portland to live where he can play in the Rockies within blocks of his house and commute to work via the local trail system. With a BS in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Portland, Joe freelanced at Knowledge Learning Corporation and ID Branding before returning to his hometown of Bozeman. As Interactive Director at O'Berry Cavanaugh, Joe pushed their range of services into new areas of web marketing. His work for clients such as Mystery Ranch Backpacks, Mexico Buyer’s Guide, Schnee’s Boots and Shoes, Trophy Ridge Archery and Clarisonic ran the gamut from retail catalog merchandising to developing user interfaces, content management systems and e-commerce platforms.

Joe enjoys exploring cities with his camera, posting religiously to his photo blog. He also likes to participate in the local athletic activities — surfing in Hawaii, mountain biking in Moab and hitting the trails in Montana: finding, cooking and eating local authentic foods and enjoying local microbrews along the way.

George Potter

Content Producer

As an independent filmmaker, George has specialized in reinterpreting the traditional documentary model to make science, environmental and natural history films engaging and accessible to a wider range of audiences. His production credits include more than 60 documentaries. Producing the Terra: The Nature of Our World series for broadcast and podcast and working on The Yellowstone Podcast, The Wildclassroom and Wildcast, he has extensive knowledge of field production of high quality video projects for online and commercial distribution. He has worked as a university film department faculty member, shot on multiple independent and commercial projects in the U.S., Canada and Australia and worked as a zoological researcher in South America, Australia and South Africa. A graduate of the Masters Program in Science and Natural History Filmmaking at Montana State University, George has won a Webby award and been nominated for South by Southwest (SXSW) film awards, the Bristol Wildscreen Festival and the Jackson Hole International Wildlife Film Festival.

Rhea Hawkins

Graphic Designer

With a degree in Communication Design from the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Rhea worked as a furniture designer and interior designer and freelanced in print and web design before she joined the ranks of Minnesotans who migrate to Montana via ski areas. Her story is familiar: receive a telephone call, pack the car, bring the dog, et voilà—you’re standing on a mountain measuring snowfall. Prior to Mercury, Rhea marketed on-hill events at Big Sky and promoted outdoor activities at a private resort called The Club at Spanish Peaks. Eventually the 50-mile commute up Gallatin Canyon loses its charm though, this time to Mercury’s benefit. Now Rhea spends less time driving snowy roads and more time driving audiences to desired destinations with strategic print and web creative. She and Robert are matrimonial legends, planning their wedding from proposal to “I do” in three weeks. They even cooked the butternut squash lasagna for the wedding dinner themselves. “If you can't do it in three weeks you don't need it,” said Rhea. With deadline efficiency like that, you can see why she appeals to us.

Mike Cook

Interactive Art Director

Mike moved to Bozeman from Wyoming and received his BFA in Graphic Design and Fine Arts from MSU after studying abroad in Italy. After receiving the Bronze Pencil award in computer design Mike moved to NYC to continue his education in technical drawing and technical animation. While studying at the Art Students League in New York he also worked on several online projects for Motorola in technical animation and Flash Action Scripting as well as several Web sites for artists and photographers. Upon returning to Montana's blue ribbon trout streams and spectacular scenery in 2007, Mike took a job as Digital Creative for Mercury, leading the charge from static to dynamic. His work on visitmt.com, travelersforopenland.org, Montana's Pressroom and Big Sky CVB has helped keep visitors traveling to Montana. When Mike isn't hiking or fly fishing with his wife, Gina and their three-legged dog, Davis, he's probably cruising the 380-mile stretch between Bozeman and Gillette, Wyo.

Molly Douma Brewer

Public Relations Associate

In her role as Public Relations Associate, Molly Douma Brewer works with journalists, enticing them to enjoy the bounties of Montana (and to write about them). With a degree from University of Michigan, Molly came to Mercury after a decade of freelance PR projects, including a cherished client, Etsy Earth. Her in-house PR experiences were with a small outdoor-industry-focused creative agency in Park City, UT and a Utah-based publishing company. A freeheel, freeski athlete, Molly met her husband, BJ Brewer, at a competition where, later that day, they both won very large, engraved beer mugs. Molly’s Bozeman backyard is equipped with a chicken coop (Lorraine, Benny, Luna and Mr Kitty residing), a greenhouse to extend the Montana summer and a BJ-built studio which houses her 1928 letterpress.