communications 21 has fortified its senior staff with two new hires. Kim Hardcastle, who was previously with the agency for five years, returns for another stint. c21 also added trade association expert Emily Snyder, who came on board in September.

Hardcastle returned in August as director of accounts. She left c21 in 2002 to establish and manage the public relations department at Denmark Advertising, where she handled all marketing and public relations activities for the agency's residential real estate clients. Previously, Hardcastle spent more than five years overseeing c21's diverse client mix, including Street of Dreams, Carter and law firms, Shapiro Fussell and Ogletree Deakins. In her current role, she also will manage the expanding c21 team and its consumer accounts. Hardcastle is a graduate of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia with a degree in marketing.

Snyder joined the team as a senior account executive. She brings more than four years of marketing and communications experience to c21. Prior to joining the agency, she served as senior communications specialist at the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association where she developed and implemented the association's marketing and public relations strategies, including all online and offline marketing efforts. Snyder received a bachelors of arts degree in public relations from the University of Alabama's College of Communications and Information Sciences. At c21 she will conduct marketing and public relations tactics for clients such as Dairy MAX, First Vehicle Services and Oldcastle Architectural Products Group.

In other c21 news, the company has expanded yet again with a bevy of new clients. The first of the new clients is First Vehicle Services (FVS). Based in Cincinnati, FVS is the largest fleet management company in the U.S., and provides services including preventive matenance, vehicle acquisition, and disposal services. c21 will manage all of First Vehicles' interactive marketing.

Next on the new client roster is Szabo Associates, an Atlanta-based media collections agency that specializes in debt collection for media outlets such as Cox Communications, Inc. and Clear Channel Communications, Inc. Szabo is divided into specific media divisions including television, cable, magazines, newspapers, radio and Internet. c21 will be working with Szabo to redesign the company's marketing program and related online and offline collaterals, after completing a customer satisfaction survey.

Topping off the influx of new clients, c21 has recently added YieldQuest Investment Group, Inc. to its client roster. YieldQuest, a fixed income and equity portfolio management company, recently hired c21 along with advertising agency Acuity, as agency of record to manage all of the company's advertising, public relations and marketing needs.