Jeff Caponigro
Jeff Caponigro (pronounced CAPP-uh-NEE-grow) is one of our nation’s most respected public relations and marketing professionals, specializing in branding, reputation management, media relations, speaker and media training, executive coaching, and crisis planning and crisis communications. He is the founder/CEO of CAPONIGRO Branding & Communications, his former Caponigro Public Relations and Caponigro Marketing Group agencies; he worked with hundreds of corporations and non-profit organizations, including client Trion Solutions. He joined Trion Solutions in 2018 as its Executive Vice President-Corporate Communications and Chief Marketing Officer and helped transform its brand into one of the most notable in the HR industry.
He is the author of THE CRISIS COUNSELOR: A step-by-step guide to managing a business crisis (McGraw-Hill/ Contemporary Books), named by New York-based PR Week magazine as one of the “10 best PR books ever written.” The book is published in English, Chinese, Norwegian, Polish, and Danish, and was text at more than 100 colleges and universities around the globe.
He is one of only a relatively small number of public relations professionals in the United States inducted into the prestigious Public Relations Society of America’s College of Fellows, recognizing lifetime achievement of the nation’s most experienced and respected PR professionals. He has also been inducted into the PRSA-Detroit Hall of Fame and Central Michigan University’s Journalism Hall of Fame. He is Accredited in Public Relations and is a former member of the Universal Accreditation Board, which governs the PR Accreditation process throughout the world. He was awarded PRSA’s highest national award, the Silver Anvil, for the public affairs program to encourage the passage of safety-belt use laws in 48 states and increase national safety-belt use by 300 percent. That program was named by PR Week magazine as one of the “20 Greatest PR Campaigns Ever.” He also has received national recognition for his crisis-management work on the 1995 recall of seat belts, one of the largest recalls in the history of the automotive industry.
He established Caponigro Public Relations (CPR) in 1995 and Caponigro Marketing Group in 2003. CPR was named one of the nation’s five best “crisis and issues management firms” and “public affairs firms” by New York-based THE HOLMES REPORT. His firm was the first public relations agency to earn ISO 9001:2000 certification for its quality practices and procedures. Caponigro Public Relations won the nation’s top award for PR firms, called the SABRE Award, in the category of “Client Service.” Michigan Lawyers Weekly, in its annual Readers’ Poll, named Caponigro PR among the best PR agencies, Marketing agencies, and Crisis Management agencies for many years.
He is one of only a relatively small number of public relations professionals in the United States inducted into the prestigious Public Relations Society of America’s College of Fellows, recognizing lifetime achievement of the nation’s most experienced and respected PR professionals. He has also been inducted into the PRSA-Detroit Hall of Fame and Central Michigan University’s Journalism Hall of Fame. He is Accredited in Public Relations and is a former member of the Universal Accreditation Board, which governs the PR Accreditation process throughout the world. He was awarded PRSA’s highest national award, the Silver Anvil, for the public affairs program to encourage the passage of safety-belt use laws in 48 states and increase national safety-belt use by 300 percent. That program was named by PR Week magazine as one of the “20 Greatest PR Campaigns Ever.” He also has received national recognition for his crisis-management work on the 1995 recall of seat belts, one of the largest recalls in the history of the automotive industry.
He established Caponigro Public Relations (CPR) in 1995 and Caponigro Marketing Group in 2003. CPR was named one of the nation’s five best “crisis and issues management firms” and “public affairs firms” by New York-based THE HOLMES REPORT. His firm was the first public relations agency to earn ISO 9001:2000 certification for its quality practices and procedures. Caponigro Public Relations won the nation’s top award for PR firms, called the SABRE Award, in the category of “Client Service.” Michigan Lawyers Weekly, in its annual Readers’ Poll, named Caponigro PR among the best PR agencies, Marketing agencies, and Crisis Management agencies for many years.
Michigan’s Governor named him a trustee on the board of Central Michigan University, and during his six-year term he was elected by fellow board members as first Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees. He established two endowments at CMU to provide funding in perpetuity for a full-ride Jeffrey R. Caponigro Scholarship and the Caponigro Multi-Media Center, one of CMU’s marquee, hi-tech classroom environments.
Before his career in marketing and public relations, he was a sports reporter and columnist for three Michigan newspapers – the Observer & Eccentric newspaper chain, the Mt. Pleasant Times-News (currently called The Morning Sun), and the Midland Daily News. One of his sports columns was selected for inclusion in the hardcover book Best Sports Stories (E.P. Dutton & Co., New York).
Today, he serves on the Troy Community Foundation advisory board and the Troy School District’s Business Roundtable. He is a board member and board Secretary of the Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce and, in 2024, was awarded during its Silver & Gold Awards program the “Higher Standard Award.” Earlier this year, he was awarded the “Creative Marketing Award” by the Troy Chamber of Commerce.
He is a former board member of Walsh College, Harper Hospital, Leadership Detroit, and St. Leo University in Tampa. He is a former board member and chairman of the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition. He is a Marketing Committee member for the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO). He was selected as a 2024 judge for the Effie Awards - the global awards program that recognizes the world’s most effective marketing-communications campaigns.
Today, he serves on the Troy Community Foundation advisory board and the Troy School District’s Business Roundtable. He is a board member and board Secretary of the Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce and, in 2024, was awarded during its Silver & Gold Awards program the “Higher Standard Award.” Earlier this year, he was awarded the “Creative Marketing Award” by the Troy Chamber of Commerce.
He is a former board member of Walsh College, Harper Hospital, Leadership Detroit, and St. Leo University in Tampa. He is a former board member and chairman of the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition. He is a Marketing Committee member for the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO). He was selected as a 2024 judge for the Effie Awards - the global awards program that recognizes the world’s most effective marketing-communications campaigns.
He is an accomplished public speaker and professional-development trainer on topics including reputation, marketing and branding, crisis communications, making effective presentations, and conquering the fear of public speaking. His speaking and emcee work has addressed groups in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and he has been quoted on numerous occasions by news media on a variety of business topics.
He has been featured in cover stories by Private Clubs, Detroiter, and Troy City Lifestyle magazines, and in 2024 and 2025 has been Guest Host and frequent guest of the popular Sunday-morning radio program on WJR-AM760 in Detroit: ‘JR Sunday with Mark Hollis.
He has been featured in cover stories by Private Clubs, Detroiter, and Troy City Lifestyle magazines, and in 2024 and 2025 has been Guest Host and frequent guest of the popular Sunday-morning radio program on WJR-AM760 in Detroit: ‘JR Sunday with Mark Hollis.