Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s new press secretary, Amy Kempe, hasn’t had time to frame photos for the walls of her Statehouse office. The office does, however, have a pile of newspapers and a television for tracking media reports. Kempe, who started July 1, took a few minutes recently to talk with Providence Business News about her new position.
PBN: How did you get involved with Regan Communications?
KEMPE: George Regan was up in Boston and looking to open a Providence office, so [a friend] introduced me to him, saying I’d be perfect. George put me down here in Providence and I was there [at Regan] for the last eight years. He kind of left us to make it our own little shop – to see what we could do. … We pounded the pavement, went to every [social event for networking] that we heard of. Some people took a chance on us, a young firm with no reputation here in Providence. … And that snowballed into a very diverse industry.
PBN: Tell me a little about making the transition to state government.
KEMPE: After I met with the governor and Mrs. Carcieri, I just knew that this is exactly what I wanted to do. I had the opportunity over the years to sit with the governor at many events and see him work – following his career. I admired the man greatly and that admiration only grew from that first meeting with him.
I think Rhode Islanders have a natural pessimism toward their elected officials and so it was refreshing to be able to sit with somebody who truly believes in their policies and believes that they are making a difference for Rhode Islanders. There’s an honesty that goes along with that – there’s no politics in it.
PBN: What advice did Jeff Neal, who had been press secretary for five years, give to you?
KEMPE: I talked to Jeff when I was first considering the position, and Jeff said it’s one of the toughest jobs in state government. But, at the same time, he also said it’s one of the greatest jobs in state government.
PBN: What are your days like now?
KEMPE: I work from 8:30 a.m. to whenever I’m needed. Then I take the BlackBerry home – the media have no problem calling you late at night if they need something. They’re on your BlackBerry or on your cell phone late at night, despite that you might not be able to get in touch with anybody at 8 o’clock or 9 o’clock at night.
So the mornings are definitely the quietest, until the press corps shows up, until things start moving. Between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., that’s my time to get some work done and play a little catch-up. Then the questions start rolling in.
My first couple of days here, the legislature was out of session. They were going through the vetoes and within the first half a day [reporters] were calling on so many different issues. I quickly had to get up to speed on things I never imagined that I would ever have to have knowledge of. What’s great is that the governor has a great staff, a great team of people [with] just a wealth of knowledge. So I quickly learned the best way to get information is to rely on the people who have it. They’re the experts. I have to get the information, package it and send it out.
PBN: At Regan Communications and GTECH you operated in a more behind-the-scenes position. Is it different seeing your name in print all the time?
KEMPE: The first TV interview or the first radio interview – I had done a little bit of that before for various clients. So I was always familiar with it, but now you rush home or you turn the TV on here to see if it sounded OK. You’re not just dealing with products or a new hotel or an event – now you’re dealing with something so much larger that affects so many different people and you want to make sure that every word is correct and accurate and that it comes across the right way.
PBN: Is it a more stressful work environment at the Statehouse, where much of the communications work is retroactive, instead of going out and pitching stories to reporters?
KEMPE: One of the greatest things about being here is that no matter what event you’re involved with or what issue, chances are you’re going to get media coverage. When you’re in the private sector and you’re trying to pitch a , making it sound exciting, you compete with a lot of other stuff – other companies and breaking news. Here, more times than not, you’re breaking news, which is an interesting concept.
Is it easier to get media attention? Sure, but sometimes the media focus more on the negative than the positive. There’s always that desire – in a PR firm, a company or here – that the media will focus on the good things you’re doing. And there are a lot of good things happening, be it economic development, or job training or policy making.
We have a number of people working very hard in this office, as well as the governor’s direct staff … creating and promoting the good news. But sometimes [the good] does get lost in the crowd. These are interesting times. •
INTERVIEW
AMY KEMPE
POSITION: Press secretary for Gov. Donald L. Carcieri
BACKGROUND: After internships at the R.I. Secretary of State’s Office and the New York General Assembly and various positions in Rhode Island congressional campaigns, Kempe spent three years working as public relations supervisor for GTECH Corp. She then was involved with the founding of Boston-based Regan Communications Group’s Providence office, where she stayed for eight years, leaving as vice president and team leader.
EDUCATION: B.A. in history, political science minor, State University of New York, Albany, 1993; M.A. in modern European history, University of Rhode Island, 1995.
FIRST JOB: At age 12, Amy delivered The Standard Times newspaper in Jamestown.
RESIDENCE: Newport
AGE: 36
