Charles E. Ryan

Charles E. Ryan is a textbook example of combining constant vigilance, relationship building, and high ethical standards with creative thinking and business leadership skills. Starting in 1974 with a single-employee, one-client public relations firm, he built Charles Ryan Associates into a 70-employee, $30 million integrated marketing and communications business with offices in Charleston, Cincinnati, Lexington, and Richmond.

While he was at it, he spun off four divisions into successful stand-alone firms. CRA is recognized as one of the region's premier public relations firms serving a prominent list of clients including AEP, Dow Chemical, NTELOS, Toyota, and the state of West Virginia.

Under Ryan's able guidance, the firm has received numerous industry awards including several prestigious Addy and Telly awards. Ryan himself has been honored with the 1997 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and induction into the State Journal's "Who's Who in West Virginia" in 1977. Ryan is a graduate of the West Virginia University School of Journalism.

His service to the community reflects the broad range of interests and concerns. It includes serving as president of the Charleston Rotary Club as a Paul Harris Fellow, founding the Kanawha Pastoral Center's Jim Dent Dinner fund raiser, serving on the boards of numerous community organizations, including the West Virginia Symphony, the West Virginia Roundtable, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and Advantage Valley.